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William Shatner may have saved the galaxy countless times with the Starship Enterprise on TV's "Star Trek," but can he command his native land of Canada? Some die-hard fans think so – they want the original Capt. James T. Kirk to lead Canada as Governor General.
The Shatner believers have launched a Facebook campaign calling for Shatner, a native of Montreal, to be appointed to a real five-year mission as the ceremonial Governor General of Canada. As of Wednesday, nearly 41,000 people were supporting the bid.
"It's time for Canada to boldly go where no country has gone before," the fans wrote on their Facebook post. "It's time for Canada to appoint the incomparable William Shatner to the position of Governor General. Indeed it's time to Back the Shat."
But will Shatner, 79, take charge if he wins the appointment? The famed actor from "Star Trek" and other television and film roles mentioned the Canadian call for his leadership with humor on his Twitter page, where he posts updates under the name "WilliamShatner."
"I believe Governor General means you govern the generals. Does that make me part of the army?" Shatner wrote.
Actually, Canada's Governor General serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the country and acts on recommendations from the prime minister to appoint the chief of Canada's Defense Staff and Royal Colonels, according to a Canadian government description.
The governor represents the country during state visits abroad, is responsible for receiving royal visitors, heads of state and foreign ambassadors at Rideau Hall in the Citadel of Quebec, creates new coats of arms for Canadian citizens and corporations, and presents awards and honors during ceremonies to recognize valor, excellence, bravery and other achievements, according to the description.
Among his myriad other roles on the stage, television and screen, Shatner portrayed Capt. James T. Kirk in the "Star Trek" sci-fi TV franchise from 1966 to 1969, and reprised the role in seven feature films in the 1980s and '90s. He has penned numerous science fiction and autobiographical novels, directed films and appeared in many other television shows as both actor and host.
Canada's Governor General is a largely ceremonial position currently held by television broadcast journalist Michaëlle Jean. She was appointed in 2005.
Whether or not Shatner becomes Canada's next Governor General, he has other things cooking here in the United States.
On May 1, he'll host the William Shatner 20th Annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show to raise funds for various charities for children.
Later this summer, Shatner plans to auction off his Harley Davidson motorcycle and other personal items as part of a larger Trek-themed charity auction in Las Vegas in June.


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Jeremy Piven has already had to swear off sushi due to mercury poisoning – and now, is the "Entourage" star turning his back on soy milk?
After an interview in the U.K.'s Empire Magazine's December issue, where the actor said he stopped drinking soy milk due to it's estrogen levels, reports surfaced saying the actor claimed he had grown man boobs due to the dairy alternative.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Latest Star Sightings
"I was the guy who dabbled in soy milk, but now we've found soy milk estrogen for me to grow breasts, I had to put the soy milk down," Jeremy said in the interview. "It was a very confusing time."
But a rep for Jeremy told Access Hollywood he was only joking in the interview.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Totally Tuned In! The Stars Burning Up HBO!
"Anyone who knows Jeremy knows he was kidding around with his answers," his rep told Access.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Unstoppable Jeremy Piven
PLAY IT NOW: Jeremy Piven, Demi Moore, Anthony Kiedis & More Celebs Ready To Rumble At UFC
PLAY IT NOW: Jeremy Piven's Fishy Tale: Is He Off The Hook? (August 28, 2009)
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Jeremy Piven - Entourage - Movies - TV - Rumors

subset: commoncrawl


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By EconMatters
Citing "Central banks are being cornered into prolonging monetary stimulus as governments drag their feet and adjustment is delayed", the BIS (Bank for International Settlements) on Sunday, June 24 endorsed the proposals of forming a single banking union for the Euro Zone to "buy time" in the short term.
After the election of a pro-bailout government in Greece, the markets now have shifted focus towards the two-day European Union (EU) summit later this week on June 28/29. At a meeting in Rome, leaders from Germany, Spain, France and Italy agreed to press for a €130 billion ($163 billion) plan at the summit.
As we previously predicted, the $125-billion 'Spailout' did not give markets much comfort. Despite the massive bank bailout, rating agencies are still busy downgrading major global banks. Spain government 10-year bond yield shot up above 7.3%, and Euro-era high, before dropping to 6.4% last Friday on the hopes that European policymakers are moving towards a resolution for the euro sovereign debt crisis.
Italy's borrowing cost also officially crossed the 6% mark, before settling at around 5.8% on Friday. Typically, economists see anything over 6% as unsustainable in the long term. So now Italy has become a serious euro bailout contender. Italy does not have as bad the spending deficit problem as Greece, and its banks are in a better shape than Spain's. But the country could have problem serving its €2 trillion of debt (about 109% of GDP) as it has to borrow €35 billion a month. The bottom line remains that there simply isn't enough money under current bail-out arrangements to rescue Italy when the time comes.
Graphic Source: BBC
The ECB has lent more than 1 trillion euros ($1.26 trillion) at its benchmark rate, and said this month it will continue to provide liquidity to solvent banks, while the U.S. Federal Reserve expanded its Operation Twist program through 2012 to swap $267 billion in short-term securities with longer-term debt. Overall, according to the BIS, central bank assets are at $18 trillion, about 30% of global GDP, double the ratio a decade ago,
Most central banks around the world have kept its benchmark lending rate at a record low since the 2008 financial crisis, which is an unprecedented long period of time. Although the official version is to shore up economic growth, the reality is that these extraordinary monetary easing measures are mainly in place to subsidize banks since the majority of banks around the world are technically insolvent due to years of over-leveraging and reckless risk management.
Similarly, almost every country in the world is some form of insolvency from decades of deficit spending and debt financing/printing. Despite all the Euro Bond, Euro Banking Union, bailouts, and Operation Twist in the world, they will not change the inescapable conclusion: Deficit Spending does not work.
Countries are no different from individuals. Ultimately, each country has to spend no more than it's taking in as income. Staying on its current course, the world eventually could be divided into three camps: bankruptcy (aka bailout), credit counseling (aka government austerity and household deleveraging), and debt renegotiation (aka "haircut"). PIIGS are only the beginning.


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At some point everyone becomes enamored with surface detailing and wrinkles. In this title, Cesar Dacol Jr. unlocks the secrets that he uses in the feature film industry. He will navigate you through the processes of internal and external forces that cause wrinkles. You will never look at a wrinkle the same way as you explore compression zones, anchor points, tissue composition and external elements in your design. Wrinkles can be complex and overwhelming, but Cesar will teach you some basic tricks that simplify the thought process behind the rhythmic patterns. You will discover the why, where and how to apply wrinkles convincingly to a sculpture. Even though this model was created in a computer using ZBrush, the methods taught are analog-based and can be easily ported into a traditional sculpture or other 3D applications like MudBox.
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It would be appropriate for me to say "I told you so" but rather rude also. I was unable to attend the actual presentation at #RootsTech 2014, but I did send my wife to take notes and then FamilySearch conveniently published a post by Glen N. Greener entitled, "Empirical Evidence of the Popularity of Family History Using Digital Traces" that gave me the complete run down on the presentation by Arnon Hershkovitz, Ph.D, School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Israel. This is not the first, neither will it be the last of the posts I do on this subject.
The issue is quite simple. Is or is not genealogy (or Family History or whatever) one of the most popular pursuits in the United States (World or again, whatever)? Just in case you want to know where this whole idea comes from here is a quote from a not too recent ABCNews blog post dated 24 October 2012:
Genealogy is hot. The same hobby that once was the preferred pastime of shut-ins, spinsters and confirmed bachelors has become widely popular. "It's no longer a niche," says Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry. He tells ABC News the site now has more than 2 million paid subscribers. Ancestry will report a billion dollars in revenue for 2012. "There's a broad, mainstream interest in family history," Sullivan says.
Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but hobby experts believe that genealogy ranks second only to gardening as American's favorite pastime.Isn't this just another of those who cares sort of issues? Do we really care whether or not genealogy is considered a hobby? The reasons I care are rather complex. I guess a threshold issue is whether of not we want genealogy to be popular? Should we be seeking popularity or competency? Isn't an "everyones doing it" campaign sometime self defeating? Isn't claiming genealogy is popular just a copout for coming up with reasonable and good reasons why people should be interested?
Well, back to the post on Arnon's presentation. What was the conclusion? I will let you read the entire article for yourself, but the conclusion was decidedly mixed. But as for Google Trends:
Trends were studied in over ten years in English speaking countries and by states in the US. These data indicate a decrease in the trend to search "genealogy." One theory for the reason is the growth of many other sources to search instead of Google. The disparity among the states in the US in 2004 has virtually disappeared now – probably because of the equalizing of Internet access in all states.Other indicators such as published book contents of genealogy also declined. If you are inclined to promote genealogy and discount any indicators of a drop in interest, all of the findings can be argued away as caused by some other factors.
I recently quoted some statistics printed in the Deseret News offered by Elder Allan F. Packer on the Family Discovery Day dated 10 February 2014:
Past approaches in the Church have resulted in less than 3 percent of members submitting names of ancestors for temple ordinance work, Elder Allan F. Packer of the Seventy said Feb. 8 at a session of the RootsTech family history conference in Salt Lake City... "These numbers are a cry for change," Elder Packer said regarding the statistics he cited, though he did say he was happy to report progress. "In the last year the number of members submitting names for temple ordinances is up 17% over last year. It has gone from 2.4 to 2.7 percent of the members," he said.Meanwhile, here is the latest graph of the searches for the word "genealogy" from Google Trends"
Now, to why this is important. Put simply, as Elder Packer is quoted above, these numbers to do bode well for any dramatic increase in interest in genealogy. I will be examining this issue off and on and perhaps I can make some suggestions that will help to increase the interest and reverse the trends.


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At least one more company thinks you're going to like Google TV: LG's LMG860 and LMG620 not only pack the company's own "smart TV" software, but the more polished Android-y dashboard as well. That's two ways to channel surf smart.
LG's Google TVs will work with its "Magic Remote," which adds a host of new ways to cruise around your movies and shows: voice recognition, gesture control, a spin wheel, and, of course, buttons. That's a lot of control! Maybe too much control. The picture on these should be expectedly more-than-decent, but we'll have to wait and see how the hybrid LG/Google lovechild turns out when we sit down on the CES couch. Are two heads really better than one? One of them better be good.


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Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway's account of events surrounding the derailment and explosion of its train in Lac-Mégantic in the early hours of Saturday has continued to evolve in the disaster's aftermath. Here is what company executives have said in their own words:
In astatement issued Sunday, the company said: "While the governmental investigation of the accident's cause has largely prevented MMA from completing its own investigation, one fact that has emerged is the locomotive of the oil train parked at Nantes station was shut down subsequent to the departure of the engineer who had handled the train from Farnham, which may have resulted in the release of air brakes on the locomotive that was holding the train in place. As mentioned above, we don't have complete information concerning this incident, but will cooperate with government authorities as they continue their investigation."
In an interview with The Gazette Sunday night, MMA executive Yves Bourdon said an employee returned to where the company's train was parked in Nantes as local firefighters were putting out a fire in one of the locomotives, possibly caused by a ruptured diesel fuel line. He could not say what verifications were done after the fire was out, before the train rolled downhill and exploded in Lac-Mégantic.
Edward Burkhardt, the chairman of MMA,told The Gazette Monday he is certain the runaway train was tampered with: "We have evidence of this. But this is an item that needs further investigation. We need to talk to some people we believe to have knowledge of this. … We want to know what they know. There are a number of missing pieces here ... but we'd like to have a complete idea about the cause. We are prepared to go in and do this very quickly; as soon as we can gain access to people and to the site."
Later that same day, Burkhardt suggested to The Globe and Mail that firefighters responding to the blaze aboard one of MMA's locomotives in the hours before it slammed into Lac-Mégantic were to blame for the train breaking loose: "They went out there by themselves, shut the engine off, doused the fire. A very small fire," he said.
Also Monday, Burkhardt told La Presse that the firefighters in Nantes may have played a role. "I don't know how much time passed between the intervention of the firefighters on our convoy and the moment we were informed the locomotive had been shut off. In any case, once we knew, it was too late. The train had already hit Lac-Mégantic, before we could send someone to put the brakes back on."
On Tuesday, Bourdon told Paul Arcand on 98.5 FM that off-duty engineer Tom Harding was asleep in his Lac-Mégantic hotel early Saturday when he was woken up by the explosion. Bourdon said Harding pitched in by going to get a tractor and helped release more tanker cars: "When he heard the explosion and heard what had happened, he released the coupling and pulled off nine wagons. If not, if those nine wagons had stayed there, there was a possibility with all the heat that was there and all, of other explosions and also fire," Bourdon said. Arcand expressed surprise that this is the first anyone was hearing about the employee's heroism. "He's a very conscientious person," Bourdon said. "He was asleep and once he heard the explosion and looked outside … he went immediately there and offered his services to firefighters. No one has talked about it yet, but I'm talking about it."
Also Tuesday, Burkhardt told a Radio-Canada reporter in Chicago that MMA employees might have made mistakes, but insisted his company should not be blamed for the disaster. For the first time he said two different MMA employees — not train engineer Harding — were called by firefighters responding to the fire in one of the locomotives parked in Nantes. Burkhardt said neither of the two employees knew that cutting the motor on the locomotive would shut off the air brakes. He added those employees "should have known." When asked by the reporter if he felt guilty, Burkhardt replied "No."
On Tuesday evening, arriving at Trudeau airport from Chicago, Burkhardt said a combination of factors was to blame for the derailment, including the lack of an MMA engineer on site after the locomotive caught fire as well as the actions of local firefighters in Nantes.
On Wednesday afternoon, at a press conference in Lac-Mégantic, Burkhardt said he no longer believes Harding, who had been the train's engineer and went off duty late Friday night. Burkhardt did not identify Harding by name, but said Harding was under police investigation and that MMA has suspended him without pay. Harding "told us that he applied 11 handbrakes" before he left the train unattended at Nantes, Burkhardt said: "Our general feeling now is that that's not true. Initially, we took him at his word."


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Get DVD Talk Feeds
Nothing encapsulates the power
of the epic science fiction series Babylon 5 better than its voiceover
for the credits. In Season 3 it is Commander Ivanova who speaks: "The
Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But in the Year
of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope... for
Setting the traditional
episodic format of television science fiction on its head, the five-year
continuous story arc of Babylon 5 built up a fascinating and captivating
story through Season 1 and Season 2. The Narn and Centauri at each others'
throats... the lurking danger of the Shadows... the growing darkness in the
Earth government... the unrest on the Mars colony... all these elements have
been building up and sending off sparks. The question has been, what is going
to blow first? It's for good reason that the season as a whole is titled
"Point of No Return." There is no reset button on Babylon 5...
and actions taken in the past are having the most dramatic of consequences.
Season 3 packs the most punch
of any season of Babylon 5 so far... and that's saying a lot, given the
series' strong start in Season 1 and
escalating drama and tension in Season 2. In Season
3, several story lines come to the forefront, with events that have been
picking up steam now coming to an explosive level. The political conflict back
on Earth has resulted in increasing social repression even on the station, as
we see in the appearance of the Night Watch organization; a string of tense
episodes like "Messages from Earth," "Point of No Return,"
and "Severed Dreams" shift that story line into high gear. At the
same time, the war with the Shadows goes from being a vaguely disturbing threat
to a terrifying reality, in episodes like "Interludes and
Examinations," the two-part "War Without End" that picks up on
certain mysterious events from Season 1, and, of course, the season finale
"Shadow Dancing" and "Z'ha'dum." It's a clear sign that
Straczynski's techniques of foreshadowing and careful buildup are effective,
when just the title of the final episode is chilling...
The focus may be on the Shadows
and the troubles on Earth, but in the background, other storylines continue to
develop. The Narn-Centauri war continues to build up pressure, with late-season
episodes like "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" leaving us
eager for Season 4. The continuing thread concerning the telepaths also finds
its place into Season 3's episodes; in addition to the return of Lyta
Alexander, we also see Psi Cop Bester (Walter Koenig) once again.
For this season, all 22
episodes were written by series creator
J. Michael Straczynski: with so many plot threads being developed, along
with others being foreshadowed for the future, this was the only way to manage
all the material properly. Given the impressively high quality of the episodes
throughout Season 3, this was an excellent decision on the part of the series
Of course, not every single
episode is up to Babylon 5's high standard: Season 3 does include
"Grey 17 Is Missing," with a lamentable monster called a Zarg making
an appearance. Straczynski himself has commented (as quoted in the Lurker's Guide to B5) that
"I just have this constant desire to go to everyone's house and personally
apologize..." Once you see the Zarg, you'll see why. But even in this
episode, the other storyline interwoven with the Zarg storyline is handled
satisfactorily, and as a whole it merely serves to underline just how good the
rest of the episodes are.
On a more individual level, Babylon
5 continues to develop its characters very effectively: these are not
static personalities, but real, changing people. I've always considered the duo
of the Centauri ambassador Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik) and his nemesis, the
Narn ambassador G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas) as being the characters with perhaps the
most depth in the series, and this is borne out as we see them each traveling
his (perhaps foreordained) path. Another instance of character development is
Dr. Franklin; while earlier seasons hinted at tensions beneath his professional
demeanor, it's here that those tensions finally come to the boiling point, as
we see in episodes like "Walkabout." The cast of "main
characters" is slightly fluid, with various figures naturally moving into
the limelight or out of it as the overall story arcs dictate: in Season 3, the
characters of Zack Allen, the down-to-earth security officer, and Mr. Morden,
the very shady "associate" of Ambassador Mollari, are brought more
into the action. In Season 3, we are also introduced to several new characters
who will prove to be important contributors to the story as it develops: Lyta
Alexander (Patricia Tallman), who is not exactly new (having appeared in the
pilot), and one of my favorite secondary characters, Marcus Cole (Jason
Season 3's powerful storylines
draw extensively on the material presented in the first two seasons, both in
plot and in character development, so for maximum enjoyment, viewers who are
new to Babylon 5 should start with Season 1 or at most Season 2. But
whatever you do, don't miss out completely! Babylon 5 is the cream of
the crop of science fiction television. If you thought Season 2 was exciting...
Season 3 is even better.
The DVD
Babylon 5: Season 3 is
packaged in the same stylish and generally user-friendly manner as the previous
two seasons. The six DVDs in the set are packaged in a "book" whose
hard plastic pages hold each disc, with the "book" fitting inside a glossy
(and iridescent) paper slipcase. It's similar to the packaging of Star Trek:
Deep Space Nine, except that the spine of the "book" is paper
rather than plastic, which does leave the B5 set open to wear and tear
as the pages are turned. I do appreciate the compact packaging, which looks
nice and takes up a surprisingly small amount of shelf space.
I am pleased to report that Babylon
5: Season 3 looks better than either of the preceding seasons; it doesn't
reach the level of perfection that, as a fan, I'd ideally like to see, but it's
good enough that I can sit back and enjoy it with no qualms. As with Seasons 1
and 2, all of Season 3's episodes are presented in anamorphically-enhanced
1.85:1 widescreen. The episodes were filmed with this aspect ratio in mind, so
viewers of the DVD are seeing a more complete image than they saw in B5's
original television broadcast (except for viewers who saw it on the Science
Fiction Channel's widescreen broadcast).
It looks like Warner stepped in
to perform the print restoration and cleaning that was lacking in the previous
seasons. As far as I could tell, the image is completely free of print flaws:
no scratches, blobs, dirt, lines, or any other distracting flaws. Even by
itself, this is a notable improvement and one that I'm very happy to see. The
computer-generated images (CGI) also look better on the whole. Scenes where CGI
and live-action shots are combined, or follow one after another, show some
blockiness but not as noticeably as before. The CGI-only shots, such as the
station itself and spacecraft, also look better: sharper and brighter, with
fewer flickering effects.
That's not to say that
everything is as good as it could be. The image overall does show a substantial
amount of noise and a touch of grain, especially in dimly lit shots, which of
course reduces the amount of fine detail in the image. Edge enhancement is
present, but kept within acceptable limits, and isn't as much of an issue as
the noise.
All in all, Season 3's improved
image quality is an extremely positive note for Babylon 5 and fans
should breath a sigh of relief.
As with the earlier seasons, Babylon
5: Season 3 is presented in a nice Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. There's nothing to
really knock you off your feet, so to speak, but the sound quality is
excellent, with clear dialogue and a nice balance of music, voices, and
effects. Some surround effects are used, which does add to the overall
immersiveness of the viewing experience.
Special features can be found
on discs 1, 3, 4, and 6 of the set.
Of most note are audio
commentary tracks for three of the episodes: on disc 3, "Severed
Dreams" has a commentary from series creator J. Michael Straczynski; on
disc 4, "Interludes and Examinations" has a commentary from cast
members Bruce Boxleitner, Jerry Doyle, Richard Biggs, and Ed Wasser; and the
season finale, "Z'ha'dum," has a commentary from Straczynski.
Several interesting featurettes
are also included. Disc 1 has a six-minute introduction to the season from
Straczynski and others. Disc 6 has two short pieces on alien makeup, with
comments from makeup effects artist John Vulich and others: "Behind the
Masks: Creating the Aliens of Babylon 5" (eight minutes) and
"Building a Better Narn" (seven minutes). "Designing Tomorrow:
The Look of Babylon 5" is a ten-minute piece n the production and
art design of the show, again featuring interviews with various artists and
crew. These are interesting pieces that are sure to appeal to both long-time
and new fans of the show.
Lastly, "The Universe of Babylon
5" is a section that offers text-based information on various aspects
of the show's setting and back story: "Personnel Files," "Shadow
Dossier," and "Data Files." Because of potential spoilers, these
should not be looked at before you see all the episodes... and after you have
seen all the episodes, there's not much point to reading this section.
Menus are clear and easy to
Final thoughts
Babylon 5: Season 3
showcases the award-winning, ground-breaking science fiction series at the height
of its powers, with creator and writer J. Michael Straczynski juggling a
complex assortment of plots and characters, developing seeds that were planted
in earlier seasons, and setting the stage for even more in the next season...
all without missing a beat. Given that Warner has done a significantly better
job for the video transfer, it's with no reservations whatsoever that I give Babylon
5: Season 3 DVDTalk's highest recommendation.


text:
The Population of Singapore (Third Edition)
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2012 - 362 頁
The third edition of this book presents a most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of population trends and patterns in Singapore since its foundation in 1819 to the present day. Separate chapters are devoted to population growth and distribution, changing population structure, migration, mortality trends and differentials, marriage trends and patterns, divorce trends and patterns, fertility trends and differentials, family planning, abortion and sterilisation, fertility policies and programmes, immigration policies and programmes, labour force and future population trends. The strength of the book lies in the author's deep familiarity with the subject acquired through spme personal involvement in the compilation of demographic statistics, as well as the formulation of population policies for the country.
讀者評論 - 撰寫評論
3 Changing Population Structure
4 Migration
5 Mortality Trends and Differentials
6 Marriage Trends and Patterns
7 Divorce Trends and Patterns
8 Fertility Trends and Differentials
9 Family Planning Abortion and Sterilisation
其他版本 - 查看全部
abortion according age group annual antinatalist benefit birth order census cent changes childcare Chinese citizenship classification couples defined Department of Statistics difficulties economic economy of Singapore employment pass family planning female figures finally financial first five fluctuations foreign workers foreign-born fourth child Government Printer immigration Indians inflow influence intercensal period interracial marriages Lee Hsien Loong Malays male marital married maternity leave Medisave migration Ministry mortality mothers Muslim divorces Muslim marriages natural increase non-Muslim non-resident population number of births occupation Office official parents participation rate pattern Peninsular Malaysia Percentage permanent residents persons population control programme population growth post-war pronatalist measures proportion reflected registered related workers religion replacement level resident labour force resident population Saw Swee-Hock scheme sector sex ratio Shariah significant Singapore citizens Singapore Standard Singaporeans sterilisation Straits of Malacca Straits Settlements Table third child three main races total fertility rate total population trends women Women's Charter


text:
Oracle has released Tuxedo 11g optimized to run on the Exalogic Elastic Cloud, its application server for C/C++, COBOL, and dynamic languages. Aiming to serve high-volume, low-latency, mission-critical applications, the company is combining this release with Oracle Tuxedo Application Runtime for IMS 11g — a toolset designed to simplify the migration of IBM mainframe IMS applications to open systems.
Continuing the migration tools theme, this release also features enhancements to Oracle Tuxedo Application Rehosting Workbench 11g and Tuxedo Application Runtime for CICS and Batch 11g, plus COBOL-IT compiler too. The sum result of these new pieces of software will, Oracle hopes, provide a reliable means of developing non-Java enterprise applications and migrating legacy mainframe applications to open systems.
"To take advantage of the scalability, flexibility, and management capabilities delivered by modern computing platforms, organizations are looking for solutions that can streamline mainframe migration and modernization," said Frank Xiong, vice president of development at Oracle. "With these new releases, Oracle has further simplified the process by optimizing integration with Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud and simplifying the migration and modernization of IBM mainframe IMS applications. As a result, current and new customers can benefit from significant performance gains that reduce costs, increase business agility, and reduce risks of disruption to business-critical applications."
Oracle Tuxedo 11g trades on its optimized integration with Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud to offer what the company claims are 7x gains in messaging performance for existing applications, elastic scalability to accommodate load fluctuations, simplified provisioning, and integrated management delivered by a cloud environment.
Oracle says that developers can leverage the performance and scalability of Oracle Tuxedo 11g and Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud to develop next-generation, high-throughput, low-latency applications. Programmers can also leverage Oracle Virtual Assembly Builder to simplify the deployment of Oracle Tuxedo 11g applications in a virtual environment.
According to the company, "Oracle Tuxedo 11g is the premier platform for 'rehosting' mainframe applications in a mainstream environment, providing mainframe-compatible application runtimes and migration tools. With the introduction of Oracle Tuxedo Application Runtime for IMS, customers can reduce IT costs, improve availability and resilience (migration enables flexible high-availability and disaster-recovery configurations that support rolling upgrades), and improve competitiveness with a modern SOA-ready open environment."
Oracle also points out that that it is delivering migration accelerators in the shape of workbench tools for the migration process, which are now integrated in an Eclipse environment. Customers can use new tools to map mainframe CICS resources and COBOL copybooks to the Oracle platform.


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Quick Cactus Egg Cosy
If you would like to try this project here are the directions to make one cosy.
What you'll need
2.5″ x 9″ Green Felt
Scraps of Coloured Felt for the Flower
Selection of Embroidery Thread in Beige and another coloured thread.
45 Silver Lined Sead Beads or whatever colour you would like
Felting Needle will help with the hand sewing, they are pyramid-shaped.
Templates Below
Cut out 3 arches that measure 3″ in width and 2.5″ in height. These templates should print out to size. Read the rest of this entry


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If you didn't get a chance to read my first article on this subject, Your Clients and Their Children: The Problems with Joint Bank Accounts, it may be helpful to review it as a means of providing context for this article. As noted in that first posting, if a client couple wishes to make their bank accounts into joint accounts with their children, there are various resolutions for handling that wish efficiently and in less risky ways. Hopefully, some of these points will help you with possible client questions on this simple, yet very important subject.
Solution 1: Transfer on Death
If your client's goal is to bypass the probate process, this option will still allow them to keep the ownership risks of assets in check. An easy way to handle this situation is by adding a "pass of title documentation" to their bank account. Many banks call these documented options a "transfer on death" or "payable upon death" provision.
Both of these provisions are nothing more than adding a beneficiary designation to their bank account, allowing the account to pass to the designated child or children at the parent's death. While this option protects the parent's assets from risk of loss due to a child's negligence or bad decisions, it should still be highly questioned within the context of the parent's estate planning objects, as the risk of bypassing their will may not be in line with the parent's big-picture desires. Keep in mind also that this option doesn't allow the child to write checks and/or pay bills from the bank account, which may be your clients' main goal in this process.
Solution 2: A Convenience Account
Many banks offer this optional alternative to putting a child's name on their parents' bank account. However, most banks don't promote them, so don't expect a bank teller to know what you're talking about if asked. This option authorizes the child/children to write checks/make deposits to the account, but doesn't grant them any ownership rights to the money in the account.
At the same time, this option will not allow the assets to bypass the probate process, which can be good, as it will diminish possible family misunderstandings and/or estate planning issues mentioned in my previous article. Also, when the child doesn't have ownership rights in the actual account, this helps prevent any creditor making claims against the child from ever accessing the parent's bank account. So if you mention this option to your clients, tell them they need to ask for a "multiple-party account without the right of survivorship," also known as a convenience account.
Solution 3: Durable Powers of Attorney
The most prudent legal alternative to putting a child's name on a bank account is obtaining durable powers of attorney for the child. While this option gives children the legal right to act as if they were their parent, it can be very dangerous if improperly used. However, there are many benefits to having this document, which no other option can comprehensively provide.
Children would be able to handle all affairs of their parent's financial needs from paying bills to withdrawing money and even selling assets, in some cases. Yet this document is only good if the parent is alive, because once the parent dies, this document is no longer valid and the Will becomes legally binding and takes precedent. This is the gold standard in planning and I highly recommend it, as it allows for the most flexibility.
Hopefully, I've provided clarification to the normal bank account questions dealing with aging clients. I find that clients see the simplicity of driving to the local bank branch and adding their child's name to their checking account as an unthreatening, easy-to-accomplish move. However, the possible risks associated with that small act open the door for advisors to do their job and educate clients on better alternatives for accomplishing the same goal.


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Guarantee - Balcony Stateroom means that you are guaranteed an Balcony Stateroom. Category, location, and stateroom number to be advised before boarding.
Relax at night in the comfort of your interior stateroom.
Guarantee - Interior Stateroom means that you are guaranteed an Interior Stateroom. Category, location, and stateroom number to be advised before boarding.
Relax at night in the comfort of your interior stateroom.
Relax at night in the comfort of your interior stateroom.
Spend the day exploring the world, then come back to your room and don't miss a thing. Take in the spectacular sights and enjoy the amazing views from the window in your stateroom.
Guarantee - Oceanview Stateroom means that you are guaranteed an Oceanview Stateroom. Category, location, and stateroom number to be advised before boarding.
These larger staterooms offer a larger gorgeous view as you cruise the open seas
An oversized window provides an extended view for you to enjoy.
Guarantee - Suite stateroom means that you are guaranteed a suite category stateroom. Category, location, and stateroom number to be advised before boarding.
Imagine opening your balcony door to see a new and breathtaking part of the world each morning. A stateroom with a balcony is a great way to make your cruise adventure even more memorable and truly take in your destination.
Spend the day exploring the world, then come back to your room and don't miss a thing. Take in the spectacular sights and enjoy the amazing views from the window in your stateroom.
The world-class food and décor in the 3-tier main dining room makes it the perfect choice for groups both large and small! From heavenly appetizers and entrées to delectable desserts, this is fine dining that everyone can enjoy. And you'll also enjoy an extra special treat when the staff performs parades in the main dining room!
The main dining room offers My Family Time Dining SM with an expedited dining and Adventure Ocean pick-up service (see details below), to keep the whole family happy and satisfied during your meals. With Royal Caribbean's expedited dining service, your children (ages 3 to 11) will be served their meals within 40 minutes and their appetisers will be served right away.
When they've finished dinner, take your children to meet the Adventure Ocean Youth staff at the dining room entrance doors. Royal Caribbean will escort your children directly to the Adventure Ocean facilities for scheduled evening activities. Then you can quickly return to your dining experience and enjoy a relaxing meal.
The Windjammer Café is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat before hitting the pool or enjoy a casual dinner to top off a day of adventure. Open almost around the clock, it offers great food, spectacular views and an attentive wait staff, all in a casual atmosphere.
Café Latte-tudes features sandwiches, pizza, pastries and popular brands like Seattle's Best Coffee® and, on some ships, Ben & Jerry's® ice cream! Open day and night, it's a great dining option for everything from a quick breakfast to a late-night snack.
A casual-eats deli cafe offering made-to-order salads, paninis and freshly prepared sandwiches. Don't miss the signature 'Kummelweck' roast beef sandwich – a guest favourite.
Chops Grille
Royal Caribbean's popular signature steakhouse, featuring grade-A premium cuts of steak cooked to your specifications, plus fresh seafood, hearty side dishes and signature desserts in an upmarket, contemporary setting. Reservations are recommended for Chops Grille. Dress is smart casual. Cover charge includes your choice of delectable items from the menu, as well as gratuities.
Chefs Table
A once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience – join up to 14 guests in an exclusive enclave to savour a five-course, gourmet menu. Every course pairs with a wine chosen to enhance your enjoyment of the dish. The menu, wine selections and price vary from ship to ship and itinerary.
Izumi Japanese Cuisine
The traditional Japanese dishes at Izumi will impress you with pure, delicate flavours, freshness of ingredients and impeccable presentation. Choose from sushi rolls, sashimi, hot rock (ishi-yaki) plates and more. Dress is smart casual. It serves lunch and dinner with À La Carte
Giovanni's Table
A casual Italian trattoria with indoor and al fresco seating, Giovanni's Table offers rustic dishes with a contemporary flair, including toasted herb foccacia, pastas, braised meat dishes and stews, served family-style.
Room Service
A new room service menu that features several upgraded selections including a Wagyu Beef Hamburger, Philly Cheesesteak and Grilled Salmon with Cucumber Mint Yogurt and Roasted Asparagus.
A delivery charge of USD 7.95 per stateroom order will now apply. The continental breakfast remains complimentary and the delivery charge excludes Grand Suites and above.
Drink packages are an economical and convenient way to purchase select drinks at our bars and restaurants.
Deluxe Beverage Package Package
• Cocktails / Spirits / Liqueurs / Beer
• Bottled still and sparkling water
• Wines by the glass
• Fresh squeezed juices / Non-alcoholic cocktails
• Premium coffees and teas
• Fountain sodas / Coca-Cola Freestyle® beverages
• Coca-Cola® souvenir cup included
Package includes any single beverage item with a value up to $12. Plus, receive a 40% discount on bottled wines priced up to $100, and 20% discount on wines priced above $100.
Refreshment Drinks Package
• Premium coffees and teas
• Bottled still and sparkling water
• Fresh squeezed orange juice
• Non-alcoholic cocktails
• Fountain sodas / Coca-Cola Freestyle® beverages
• Coca-Cola® souvenir cup included
Classic Soft drinks Package
• Fountain soda and refills in any venue
• Coca-Cola Freestyle® beverages
• Coca-Cola® souvenir cup included
There is plenty of Activites and Adventure to participate in onboard, or just relax and do nothing
Created to serve loyal guests with concierge access, complimentary breakfast and evening open bar, the lounge has a self service coffee machine (serving espresso, cappuccino, latte macchiato, cafe crème and cafe latte) and free drinks including cocktails, wine, Champagne and beer. For Diamond, Pinnacle Club and Diamond Plus Crown & Anchor Society membership guests only.
The Moonlight Lounge offers an enjoyable atmosphere to relax with your favourite cocktail
Featuring a sophisticated 1960s vibe, complete with iconic furnishing and signature cocktails created by a savvy and personable mixologist
There's nothing quite like relaxing in a nautical-themed bar when you're at sea, especially if you're in the Schooner Bar, a Royal Caribbean signature bar and guest favorite. In the evening, you may find a crowd gathered around the piano singing along with any one of the talented piano players featured.
Dance the night away in the Shall We Dance Lounge, with live music every night, and the ship's secondary performance venue during the day with Bingo etc
With it's 360 - degree views at the top of the ship, the Viking Crown Lounge is a great viewing spot during the day, and in the evening a fantastic place to unwind with a well made drink
The alfresco Pool Bar on deck 9 serves the outside pool area with refreshments throughout the day.
Relaxation can be thirsty work. While you're soaking up the vibe of the adults-only Solarium, grab a refreshment from the Solarium Bar, where friendly bartenders serve wine, beer, cocktails and chilled umbrella drinks perfect for sipping beneath your poolside umbrella.
An area within the Viking Crown Lounge for guests staying in Grand Suite-level rooms and higher, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle Club Crown & Anchor Society members. Serves a range of snacks throughout the day, breakfast and evening drinks.
The two level theatre onboard is a fantastic place to enjoy a nightly show, or even a movie on the big screen. It could be a contemporary musical stage production or a Las Vegas-inspired floor show. Maybe headline entertainment or a comedy act. Whatever or whomever is on stage, one thing is for sure - you'll be amazed!
Royal Caribbean Productions sets the industry standard for cruise line entertainment at sea. From amazing aerial choreography to interactive and folkloric shows, our talent from all over the world offers exciting onboard entertainment for guests of all ages and it's all included in your one low cruise fare.
Casino Royale offers a wide range of gaming machines and table games such as Poker, Roulette, Craps, and Black Jack with with 162 slots and 11 tables
Chic and sophisticated Centrum experience with enriching daytime activities, dazzling nightly entertainment and jaw-dropping aerial spectacles
Why watch a movie inside? Lounge on the pool deck with an ocean breeze, the moon, and movie stars as big as all outdoors. The 220 square foot movie screen presents first-run movies, live sporting events and more at the pool area on select ships.
Only Royal Caribbean offers families a collection of complimentary first-at-sea experiences that challenge all limitations, along with signature favourites that delight all ages. Starting with the Adventure Ocean, where all staff hold a college degree in education, recreation or a related field and has experience working with children aged 3-17.
Your Aquanauts' time on board will not only be fun, it will be educational too! They'll get to learn about local customs, do terrific science experiments and make great new friends.
Fun to be had with Theme Activities Nutty Nicknames, Un-Birthday Party, Camp Aquanauts, Ice-Cream Party, Super Hero Afternoon, Face Painting, Pirate Night, Talent Show, Under The Sea Night and Pajama Rama Movie Night.
One thing you won't have to worry about during your cruise adventure is a bored Explorer! All kinds of exciting activities await your 6- to 8-year-olds, like hands-on science experiments, scavenger hunts, theatre games and more.
Fun to be had with Wide World of Extremes Party, Dancing Through the Decades, Pirate Night, Ice-Cream Party, Scavenger Hunts, Bingo and Movie Mania.
The Voyagers programme is all about kids having a great time, learning new things and making new friends from all over the world.
Ben & Jerry's® is a great spot for the pre-teen set to meet up with new friends over some ice cream.
Included activities are: The X Games, Rockin' Through the Decades, Reggae Beach Party, Scavenger Hunts, List-O-Rama, Backstage Tour, The Art Walk, Win, Cruise or Draw, Talent Show and Sports Tournaments.
Activities your child might enjoy in Aquanauts, Explorers and Voyagers include:
To participate, children must be fully potty-trained and 3 years of age as of the first day of the cruise. (No pull-ups or nappies, please.) Hours: At Sea: 09:00 hrs to noon, 14:00 hrs to 17:00 hrs and 19:00 hrs to 22:00 hrs. In Port: Thirty minutes prior to the first shore excursion to 17:00 or return of the last shore excursion, 19:00 to 22:00
The best thing about the Teen programme is that it's not structured. The 12- to 14-year-old guests can come and join activities and games when they want to or just chill with friends in the teen-only lounge. For 15-17 year old guest as you're almost an adult and it's your holiday, too. So Royal Caribbean gives you the freedom you deserve. You can join events all day or come and go as you want. Royal Caribbean has got great laid-back places where you can just chill with your new friends.
Activities available to participate in include: Mocktail competitions you can then enjoy, Sports games, You can take home a mix CD of all of your favourite Karaoke tunes so you can share them with your friends, Teen Casino, BBQ, Improv games, Jam Sessions, Theme nights and parties with Dancing.
Set aside some special family time on board and join in the fun of the Royal Babies interactive classes held in one of the onboard lounges. These enriching activities have been developed by early childhood experts at Fisher-Price and are hosted by trained youth staff. A parent or caregiver MUST accompany children 6 to 36 months of age during all activity sessions.
Join your child in the fun of Royal Tots, interactive playgroup sessions developed by early childhood experts at Fisher-Price®. Each 45-minute session, held on one of the onboard lounges, offers activities that expose children to new experiences and teach you how to make playtime learning time as well. Plus, your little one will be all smiles and giggles as they make new discoveries, sing, sway and play with great toys they're sure to love. A parent or caregiver MUST accompany children during all playgroup sessions.
The main dining room offers My Family Time Dining SM with an expedited dining and Adventure Ocean pick-up service (see details below), to keep the whole family happy and satisfied during your meals. With Royal Caribbean's expedited dining service, your children (ages 3 to 11) will be served their meals within 40 minutes and their appetisers will be served right away.
When they've finished dinner, take your children to meet the Adventure Ocean Youth staff at the dining room entrance doors. Royal Caribbean will escort your children directly to the Adventure Ocean facilities for scheduled evening activities. Then you can quickly return to your dining experience and enjoy a relaxing meal.
Vitality Spa features a luxurious line-up of signature treatments, massages, medi-spa services and salon to make you glow from the inside out.
The aptly named Shipshape Fitness Centre features modern exercise eqipment and a sauna.
The main pool is located in the middle of deck 9, and is flanked by 4 whirlpool spas.
The Solarium is an indoor/outdoor pool and lounge area that can be covered by a huge glass roof called the Crystal Canopy. This is an Adults Only pool area. It also includes 2 Whirpools


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Throughout Woodhaven our streets are being repaved. The streets have all been milled and we have been advised that the asphalt will be poured after July 4. The collapsed building at 78-19 Jamaica Avenue- The Office of the Queens Borough President has advised that the collapsed building at 78-19 Jamiaca Avenue will be demolished. At this time the NYC Buildings Department is finalizing this project of demolition.
It is a shame that the Woodhaven Richmond Hill Ambulance Corps and the Woodhaven Senior Citizen Center are suffering due to this building owner's negligence and irresponsibility.
A new program will supply small loans to New York Families that are at risk of losing their homes through foreclosure. The New York State Mortgage Assistance Program will help homeowners secure mortgage modifications. As of October 15, 2014, consumers can start applying for these loans of up to $40,000 per borrower. Please call (855) 466-3456 for more information.
There is free financial counseling at the Science, Industry and Business Library. Do you need help planning your financial future? There are free sessions available with a financial counselor. These Financial professionals will offer advice and answer questions about any personal money matters you may have. Half hour sessions are private and confidential. To schedule an appointment visit www.nypl.org/moneymatters and click on counseling.
As of June 27 through August 29, youngsters 18 and younger can get breakfast weekdays from 8 to 9:15 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. In addition to our Woodhaven Library offering this program, it will also be available at P.S. 306, 95-16 89th Avenue, P.S. 60, 91-02 88th Avenue, P.S. 97, 85-52 85th Street, and P.S. 66, 85-11 102nd Street.
At Highland Park on Wednesday July 9, at 6:00 P.M. Hip Pickles will perform for free. At the Forest Park George Seuffert Bandshell on Thursday, July 10, there will be free Zumba from 5 to 6 p.m. followed by Bon Jersey, a musical tribute to Bon Jovi, at 7:30 p.m.
As we observe Independence Day, more than ever please fly our American Flag proudly above all others from your homes or apartments. This July 4th we have so much to celebrate in that we live here in America, the best and most generous country in the world. Happy Birthday America.
May God bless our leaders, may God bless our armed forces that preserve our freedom and disabled veterans that have sacrificed so much, and may God bless our America.


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Engagement rings cheap real
Why do we need engagement rings cheap real
Wedding rings – is a constant attribute of the wedding. I must say that at the legislative level the use of engagement rings cheap real is not regulated at all. Sign and become a husband and wife is quite possible, without exchanging rings. But the sacred tradition to wear wedding rings adhere to for many centuries. And therefore, it is hardly possible to find a couple who would ignore the rite of exchange engagement rings cheap real. Most often, the newlyweds exchange rings at the wedding. In more religious families, the priest puts the rings on the fingers of the young during the wedding ceremony in the church. So, engagement rings cheap real!
What is engagement rings cheap real
The ring is a symbol of loyalty and devotion of spouses. It has no end, no beginning, which symbolizes eternity and the strength of family ties. By exchanging engagement rings cheap real, the bride and groom give each other a vow of love and loyalty.
The practical side of engagement rings cheap real
From a practical point of view, wedding rings, engagement rings cheap real, are also very important. They show that the husband and wife have already found each other, that they are happy and do not want to love affairs on the side. When meeting someone, it is somehow not acceptable to ask directly in the forehead: Girl, and are you married? But if the golden ring, engagement rings cheap real, sparkles on the ring finger, then the question, like the intrusive cavalier himself, disappears by itself.


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Aug, 16 - 2:00PM - 3:30PM
Aug, 15 - 3:00PM - 4:30PM
Listings provided courtesy of Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. 3 tree icon refers to an NWMLS listing.
"3 tree" icon designates the listing as a NWMLS listing.


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Straight flush: The septic system that wasn't
Talk about a rude surprise: When sewage backed up in the crawl space of their house last April, Caley Clark and Steve Oberhauser called a local company to pump the septic tank. Except... it turns out they don't have a septic tank. They do, however, have an outhouse– and it's a good thing, because they've been using it ever since.
Clark and Oberhauser bought the chalet-style house, which Oberhauser says "sits high atop Pocosin Mountain in Greene County," last November. Mary Alice and Bruce Hulcher of Richmond were the sellers, and Kevin McHaney of Montague, Miller & Co. represented them. According to the contract, McHaney also represented Clark and Oberhauser– although they claim he never actually asked whether they wanted him to represent them. The couple had previously had a good experience with Montague, Miller, and Oberhauser attributes their passivity to the assumption that they could trust McHaney to take care of the details.
When I set out to research the dispute, doors slammed shut fast. McHaney said little more than, "He [Oberhauser] better be extremely careful about what he says and what he does." He also referred me to the company's managing broker, Pam Drumheller. Drumheller not only did not respond to messages I left on August 30 and September 6, but I also received no reply to a September 8 fax.
When I called the Hulchers, the conversation was abrupt: First Mary Alice accused me of doing "something illegal"– apparently writing about the dispute– and then said I would have to talk to her husband, who was at his office. After refusing to divulge the number, she hung up on me. That means we're left with only the buyers' claims as to what happened. Since Oberhauser handled most of the transaction, I'll rely largely on his account.
Oberhauser claims that instead of the septic system they'd been told was in place– Montague, Miller's MLS listing form, for instance, stated that it existed– they found only a four-inch corrugated pipe that was "duct-taped to the outtake valve on the toilet under the house." The pipe, which was aboveground, ran about 30 yards "into a crude pile of rocks, hidden by a large board"; along the way, it was "leaching the water and waste into the ground."
The same day he discovered the leaky pipe, he called the Hulchers. "Bruce said he didn't know anything about the drain field or septic system," Oberhauser claims. In the course of looking up Bruce Hulcher's office number, I learned online that he owns a civil-engineering firm in Richmond. The firm has expertise in industrial waste management and municipal waste treatment, among other things.
Oberhauser also says Hulcher told him that they "owned the place as a second vacation home and rarely used it." Turns out they also had a second second vacation home, however– roughly two blocks from the one they sold Oberhauser and Clark– and Oberhauser reports that they continue to use that one.
Brown Exterminating performed the various inspections (water, termites, septic system, etc.) required for the sale and, based on visual inspection, reported that the septic system passed. But, as Brown manager Gary Shifflett explains, that type of inspection consists of flushing the toilet and looking for such things as back-flow, offensive odors, or dampness in the area where the septic tank is assumed to be. Since the house was listed as having a septic system, Shifflett says the employee had no reason to suspect otherwise.
This is a hot real estate market. Oberhauser claims McHaney said that the couple would have a better chance of getting the house– "almost serving as a tiebreaker if two or more bids were of equal value"– if they passed up the demand for a home inspection. They did– and now, of course, wish they hadn't.
Montague, Miller submitted the couple's claim to its insurance company, but it was denied. Absolute Plumbing & Drain Cleaning Services estimates that installing a septic system will cost $11,000, due in part to the mountaintop location.
Oberhauser and Clark have filed a complaint with the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation in Richmond; I'll follow up with any developments.
Do you have a consumer problem or question? Email the Fearless Consumer or write her at Box 4553, Charlottesville 22905.


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A man was arrested early Saturday for trespassing inside the walled Studio City estate of pop singer Miley Cyrus.
In video taken at the scene, he identified himself as Jason Luis Rivera, 40. He said he was a friend of Cyrus.
The man tried to enter the home in the 11000 block of Amanda Drive, but employees told him Cyrus was not home and said they would call police if he did not leave. They heard a sound like him trying to break through a wall to get it, according to Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Brian Wendling.
Local news from across Southern California
Officers responded to the 19-year-old singer and actress' home about 4 a.m.
"Police Department, step out of the gate," officers can be heard saying from video on the scene.
"Stand up, put your hands in the air, drop the bag," a police officers said, after threatening to use a Taser on the man.
"Yes, sir," Rivera said, climbing out of some vegetation. "Kinda hard though, man."
He was handcuffed and arrested for trespassing without incident.
Rivera wore a gray jacket, blue button-down shirt, baggy pants, a purple bandanna tied around his neck and a giant red-heart necklace.
Asked by police what he was doing at the home, the man appeared to say: "I'm a friend of Miley Cyrus … I am. She's my wife."
Police took a pair of scissors off him. An apple fell out of his front pocket while he was searched.
He was being held at LAPD's Valley Jail in Van Nuys, according to the Sheriff's Department inmate information page.


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JOHN ROZENTALS has some sage advice for lovers of good food and wine … save some time and space for Angullong's splendid lunch among the vines.
Angullong Wines has a beautifully appointed and admirably located cellar-door/shopfront in the charming Central-Western NSW village of Millthorpe, not far outside Orange.
That's just as well, because, though it has the largest vineyard in the Orange district, it's at the end of the road to woop-woop, at a location called Panuara, on the slopes of Mt Canobolas near Cadia.
But once a year, during the October Orange Wine Week, Hatty Crossing, her sons James and Ben, and their families, who between them run Angullong, share this prized grape-growing location with the public during a long-table lunch called 'Outstanding in the Vines'.
And outstanding it really is. The lunch location and setting are fabulous — on white-clothed tables between two of the property's dams and offering simply fabulous views over the surrounding vines.
It is a smart move by the Crossings to organise buses to bring their guests from Orange Railway Station.
The long and winding road may take a toll on the way in, and almost certainly will on the way out.
Especially given the vineyard's proximity to nowhere, the standard of food presented over the past couple of years has been superb.
In 2017, for instance, the menu comprised: hors d'oeuvre of smoked trout paté on crostini, mini Yorkshire puddings with venison, goats-cheese-and-beetroot tarts, spanakopita, and cheese-and-rosemary sables with roast tomato; followed by shared platters of beef fillet with chilli-lemon and cumin, crispy-skin herbed chicken, asparagus with aioli, chucky potato gratin, and pear-pea-and-parmesan salad with creamy mint dressing.
And then there was dessert — absolutely delectable lemon-curd cheesecake and chocolate berry mousse.
Winewise, there was plenty to choose from, starting with regularly topped-up glasses of NV Chardonnay Pinot Noir and 2016 Sparkling Rosé, with 2017 Pinot Grigio for when the bubbles started to overwhelm.
With the main course there was 2017 Fossil Hill Rosato, 2016 Chadronnay, 2016 Fossil Hill Tempranillo and 2016 Fossil Hill Sangiovese, while dessert was accompanied by 2016 Fossil Hill Riesling, 2013 Botrytis Semillon and 2016 Fossil Hill Barbera.
And the band, — one of various incarnations of the Hip Replacements — will be back in 2018, playing just so many songs that have guests searching though nostalgia banks.
And, quite remarkably, the Studebaker truck the band uses as a stage still carries grapes from vineyard to winery at vintage time.
Those interested in attending the 2018 event, and others on the Wine Week calendar, should visit www.angullong.com.au and www.brandorange.com.au.
Written by John Rozentals


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According to Buster Olney of ESPN, Ramirez is still owed $5 million this season and the Chicago White Sox could feasibly get Ramirez simply as a straight waiver claim and with no need to send prospects in return.
Olney also speculates that the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, or the Texas Rangers could all take a gamble on Ramirez. It's also possible that Ramirez could go through the waiver wire unclaimed and then the Dodgers could trade him and, in doing so, agree to pick up a portion of his remaining salary.
Kenny shouldn't have listened to Ozzie and his crazy DH theory, and keep Jim Thome. We'd have a proper DH, and not this Mark Kotsay nonsense, and for the entire season. Furthermore, Big Jim wouldn't be contributing a .268/.387/.578/.966 hitting line to the Twinkies.
UPDATE: Rosenthal @ FOXS:
Left fielder Manny Ramirez…would be risky for a team to claim; the Dodgers likely would let him go, assuming that Ramirez was willing to waive his no-trade clause. The claiming club then would assume the pro-rated portion of his $20 million salary, which on Aug. 31 still would be more then $3 million.
The deferrals in Ramirez's contract would make no difference in the amount his new club would pay; only the timetable might be affected. Ramirez's contract stipulates a $5 million salary this season and deferred payments without interest of $3.33 million each on June 30, 2011 and '12 and $8.33 million on June 30, 2013.
If Ramirez cleared waivers, he would be eligible to be traded to any team — and he would be wise to waive his no-trade clause for an American League club that would allow him to serve as a DH and build his value for free agency this off-season.
Ramirez, recovering from a right calf strain, could begin a rehabilitation assignment this week. The Dodgers cannot place him on waivers until after they activate him from the disabled list.


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Joe Wolverton, II
New American
June 24, 2012
Word out of Iowa is that Ron Paul won a majority of that state's delegates to the Republican National Convention to be held in August in Tampa, Florida. This is contrary to the story told on election night in January when first Mitt Romney and then, after a recount, Rick Santorum was declared the winner of the Hawkeye State's caucus.
After what the Des Moines Register described as a "two-day tug-of-war marked by bouts of angry shouting," backers of the Libertarian-leaning Texas congressman won 23 of the state's 28 total delegates.
This isn't the first such example of a Paul Paradox. State convention delegates elected pro-Paul slates in Minnesota, Maine, Nevada, and Louisiana, although Paul didn't win the popular vote in any of those states (or any other state for that matter). The results are indisputable, but the million-dollar question is whether the Republican National Committee will allow these delegates to vote their consciences or will "bind" them to vote for the "presumptive nominee," former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Some who support Ron Paul have decided not to wait on the RNC to rule and have taken their case to the courts.
As we have reported, a lawsuit was filed by the law firm of Gilbert & Marlowe in Santa Ana, California, asking a federal court to determine:
… whether Plaintiffs are free to vote their conscience on the first and all ballots at the Federal Election known as the Republican National Convention or whether Plaintiffs are bound to vote for a particular candidate as instructed by Defendants' State Party Bylaws, or State Laws, or the preference of political operatives….
Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the chairmen of every state's Republican Party, as well as the state party itself.
In all a total of over 143 delegates (presumably national delegates, otherwise the federal court would have no jurisdiction) have joined or asked to join as plaintiffs in the suit.
Among other complaints, the lawsuit alleges that the RNC violated its own rules and applicable federal voting statutes by:
Certifying "unlawful slates of Delegates that were not elected in accordance with the US Statues and US Supreme Court Decisions cited, nor in accordance with the proper Bylaws of Defendants;"
Engaging "in a scheme to intimidate and harass Delegates who were supporting a Candidate that Defendants did not approve of;"
Forcing delegates to "sign affidavits under penalty of perjury with the threat of criminal prosecution for perjury as well as financial penalties and fines if the Delegate fails to vote as instructed by Defendants rather than vote the Delegate's conscience as mandated by the US Statutes and US Supreme Court;"
Denying "a quorum or to manipulate Delegates supporting a particular Candidate to be deprived of a fair election as a Delegate;"
Using "threats of violence including dressing security type people in dark clothing searching out supporters of a Candidate Defendants do not approve of to harass and intimidate said Delegates from voting their conscience;"
Unlawfully using "State Bylaws and in some cases State Laws to harass and intimidate Delegates from voting their conscience;" and
Altering "the voting ballot results to fraudulently reflect an outcome that is inconsistent with the actual voting ballot results for the purpose of certifying a fraudulently selected slate of Delegates to support the Candidate of Defendants' choice rather than the Delegates properly elected."
If the court does not issue an immediate injunction blocking these actions, the plaintiffs argue, they will suffer irreparable harm.
This notion of "binding" delegates to vote for one candidate despite their own allegiances (and the allegiances of those state convention delegates who voted for them) is one of the many bones of contention being fought over by those loyal to Ron Paul and those who accept Mitt Romney as the "presumptive nominee."
The RNC argues that the winner of the popular vote (Mitt Romney in most cases) should also received at least a corresponding percentage of that state's delegates elected at the state conventions, while the plaintiffs in this lawsuit (and the Paul campaign itself) insist that delegates are empowered by RNC Rule 38 to vote their consciences and cannot be forced to vote for the winner of the state primaries.
Promising to "carry on the fight," the executive committee of the Lawyers for Ron Paul is actively seeking new plaintiffs to add to the lawsuit and they continue to promote the message that the war is not over and that despite the fact (as they see it) that Ron Paul's national campaign staff has "thrown in the towel," the grassroots supporters around the country still have the power to get their man into the White House.
Assuming for a moment that a federal judge rules that all Republican delegates to the national nominating convention are unbound and may vote for the candidate of their choice, what would the practical effect of such a holding be? Ron Paul himself has conceded that he does not have the numbers necessary to put him over the top and onto the top of the ticket. Is there any scenario that can convert these victories into anything other than the Pyrrhic variety?
First, Ron Paul maintains that he is not ready to follow in his senator son's footsteps and endorse Mitt Romney.
In an interview on CNN's The Situation Room, Ron Paul said, "No. Not ready. No way," when asked by the host Wolf Blitzer if he was ready to throw his support behind Romney. That firm denial seems to indicate that despite having suspended his active campaign in May, Ron Paul remains a candidate for president.
Then again, there is the message to supporters posted last week on YouTube where Ron Paul told viewers that he had "a lot of good news," describing a roster of goals for all the delegates and alternates elected to represent him at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August.
First, delegates should work to "influence the platform." Next, they should "fight for our values," and finally, "do whatever they can to promote the cause of liberty."
Running about eight minutes, Dr. Paul's message does not sound like an attempt to either compromise or concede. He sounds confident that the fight for liberty and limited government will continue.
But without him in the Oval Office.
Another Paul Paradox is the man's adamant denials that he will mount a third party campaign for president. This hardline would seem to indicate that Ron Paul considers the GOP to be the most reliable vehicle for taking his message to the masses. Why then does he refuse to endorse the Party's candidate?
Principle. The answer is that in a world where pseudo-statesmen trip over themselves to be the first to get to the Party's altars so they can sacrifice all their principles to the god of Power, Ron Paul stands back, humbly and boldly proclaiming liberty like the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
Whatever the outcome, when the smoke clears on this Republican war of ideas, there is little doubt that there will remain yet alive millions of American freedom fighters devoted to the cause of the Constitution and to the protection of our civil liberties.
Many of these patriots are young, so they must be reminded that there will come others from their ranks that will run for office and promote this cause and stand firm against the Establishment's gradual march toward absolutism.
Truly, Ron Paul is not the first and he will not be the last candidate to lead the fight for freedom, but he may be the best.
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Donald Smith, MBA, MSc, is Director of Ecosystem Development for the Eclipse Foundation, an independent not-for-profit foundation supporting the Eclipse open source community. Prior to joining Eclipse, Donald was Director of Technology Evangelism at Oracle and has also worked for startups WebGain and The Object People. He brings over a decade of worldwide industry experience, from small "dot-com" through Fortune 50 companies. Donald speaks regularly about community development, persistence, business integration and politics at conferences and events world wide, including Java One, Oracle World, Sun Tech Days, Evans Developer Relations Conference, OOPSLA, JAOO, Server Side Symposium, Colorado Software Summit and others.
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My Birthday
It was pretty awesome.
After my sister, twin brother, and I inhaled burgers at Umami we headed to Vivienne Westwood's new store on Melrose. She's one of my favorite designers and always has the coolest bags. Imagine my excitement when I heard they were having a SALE. I walked away with a bitchin' plaid carry-on.
When I got home I put Lily inside it…I wish I could take her with me, I'm going to miss her SO DARN MUCH.
It's Monday night and oh my goodness, time is flying. Two days until I leave… TWO DAYS. I'll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off tomorrow as I do some last minute shopping for my family in London. Apparently they love American grape jelly (6 jars) , Trader Joe's kettle corn (12 bags so far but I think we can fit more), and Trader Joe's turkey jerky (too many to count).
I started packing my own things but got overwhelmed and stopped. I need someone to pack for me.


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February 24, 2010
The global warming guerrillas
Published Feb 6 2010
FROM- UK Spectator
Matt Ridley salutes the bloggers who changed the climate debate. While most of Fleet Street kowtowed to the green lobby, online amateurs uncovered the spin and deception that finally cracked the consensus
Journalists are wont to moan that the slow death of newspapers will mean a disastrous loss of investigative reporting. The web is all very well, they say, but who will pay for the tenacious sniffing newshounds to flush out the real story? 'Climategate' proves the opposite to be true. It was amateur bloggers who scented the exaggerations, distortions and corruptions in the climate establishment; whereas newspaper reporters, even after the scandal broke, played poodle to their sources.
It was not Private Eye, or the BBC or the News of the World, but a retired electrical engineer in Northampton, David Holland, whose freedom-of-information requests caused the Climategate scientists to break the law, according to the Information Commissioner. By contrast, it has so far attracted little attention that the leaked emails of Climategate include messages from reporters obsequiously seeking ammunition against the sceptics. Other emails have shown reporters meekly changing headlines to suit green activists, or being threatened with ostracism for even reporting the existence of a sceptical angle: 'Your reportage is very worrisome to most climate scientists,' one normally alarmist reporter was told last year when he slipped briefly off message. 'I sense that you are about to experience the "Big Cutoff" from those of us who believe we can no longer trust you, me included.'
So used are greens to sycophancy in the television studios that when they occasionally encounter even slightly hard questions they are outraged. Peter Sissons of the BBC: 'I pointed out to [Caroline Lucas of the Green party] that the climate didn't seem to be playing ball at the moment. We were having a particularly cold winter, even though carbon emissions were increasing. Indeed, there had been no warming for ten years, contradicting all the alarming computer predictions... Miss Lucas told me angrily that it was disgraceful that the BBC — the BBC! — should be giving any kind of publicity to those sort of views.'
Of course, reporters have been going native for decades. The difference is that they cannot now get away with it. When acid rain was all the rage in the 1980s, I was a science editor and I relayed all sorts of cataclysmic predictions from scientists and greens about its effect on forests. (Stern magazine said in 1984 that a third of Germany's forests were already dead or dying and that experts believed all — all! — its conifers would be gone by 1990.) Today, we know that these predictions were wildly wrong and that far from dying out, forests in Germany, Sweden and North America actually thrived during that decade. I should have been more sceptical.
Yet, this time round, despite 20 years of being told they were not just factually but morally wrong, of being compared to Holocaust deniers, of being told they deserved to be tried for crimes against humanity, of being avoided at parties, climate sceptics seem to be growing in number and confidence by the day. What is the difference?
In a word, the internet. The Climate Consensus may hold the establishment — the universities, the media, big business, government — but it is losing the jungles of the web. After all, getting research grants, doing pieces to cameras and advising boards takes time. The very ostracism the sceptics suffered has left them free to do their digging untroubled by grant applications and invitations to Stockholm. The main blog used by the Consensus, realclimate.org, exemplifies this problem, because it was set up by a PR company and is run by an employee of Nasa, who ties himself in knots trying to show that he does the blog in his spare time. It is also characterised by a tone of weary condescension and censoring of dissent that you do not find on most sceptic sites.
Contrast it with wattsupwiththat.com, a site founded in November 2006 by a former Californian television weather forecaster named Anthony Watts. Dedicated at first to getting people to photograph weather stations to discover how poorly sited many of them are, the site has metamorphosed from a gathering place for lonely nutters to a three-million-hits-per-month online newspaper on climate full of fascinating articles by physicists, geologists, economists and statisticians.
Or take a book published last month called The Hockey Stick Illusion by Andrew Montford, a rattling good detective story and a detailed and brilliant piece of science writing. Montford has never worked in the media. He is an accountant and science publisher who works from his home in Milnathort in Kinrossshire. He runs a blog called 'Bishop Hill'.
Montford came to the subject in 2005 when he read a blog post by another amateur non-journalist named Tim Worstall, a scandium dealer who lives in Portugal (I am not making this up), who was in turn passing on news of another blogger's work: Stephen McIntyre, a retired mining consultant and keen squash player in Toronto. Because he keeps catching errors in their work, McIntyre is the sceptic the climate scientists most love to hate, even though he is scrupulously polite and insists that the followers on his website, climateaudit.org, are too. 'A certain person', the Climategate scientists called him in their emails, or 'Mr Mc "I'm not entirely there in the head"', or 'the self-appointed Joe McCarthy of climate science'.
Notice that all of these sceptic bloggers are self-employed businessmen. Their strengths are networks and feedback: mistakes get quickly corrected; new leads are opened up; expertise is shared; links are made. Prejudice and ignorance abound too, but the good blogs get rewarded with scoops and guest essays so they tap into rich seams of knowledge. When Montford first ran his now classic post called 'Caspar and the Jesus paper', about the shenanigans the IPCC had to resort to in order to get a flawed paper rebutting McIntyre into the peer-reviewed literature in time to use it in their report, word of mouth caused interest in his website to explode.
Mcintyre's forensic dissection of the Consensus papers puts cosy scientific peer review to shame. Digging deep into data and computer programs, he has found myriad mistakes in both the statistical technique and the data used to make the famous hockey stick graph, which purported to show that recent temperatures were unprecedented in level and rate of change. But he has also uncovered a mistake in data that conveniently prevented 1934 being warmer than 1998 in America; the splicing together of the records of two Antarctic weather stations as if they were one; the smoothing of sea-level rise in a way that conveniently concealed its recent deceleration; the use of a Swedish lake sediment series upside down so it showed recent warming instead of cooling; and most recently the reliance of an attempt to resuscitate the hockey stick on a ludicrously small sub-sample of just 12 Siberian larch trees. That last one came about when Montford spotted that a scientist who had been refusing McIntyre access to data for ten years had published in a journal with a strict policy of archiving data. Montford tipped off McIntyre, who asked the journal to force the scientist to release the data, which he eventually did.
'It seems inconceivable to the commentariat,' says Andrew Orlowski of the online newspaper of the IT industry, the Register, 'that scientists have prejudices too, and that the publication process (peer review) is not some Kitemark of quality but is vulnerable to being hijacked.' Chip Knappenberger, who blogs at masterresource.org, believes the rise of blogs as repositories of scientific knowledge will continue if the scientific literature becomes guarded and exclusive. 'I can only anticipate this as throwing the state of science and the quest for scientific understanding into disarray.'
When Climategate broke, the mainstream media, like knights facing archers at Crécy, mostly ran dismissive pieces reflecting the official position of the Consensus. For example, they dutifully repeated the line that the University of East Anglia's global temperature record was vindicated by two other 'entirely independent' records (from Nasa and NOAA), which was bunk: all three records draw from the same network of weather stations. Editors then found — by reading and counting the responses on their blog pages — that there was huge and educated interest in Climategate among their readers. One by one they took notice and unleashed their sniffing newshounds at last: the Daily Express went first, then the Mail and the Sunday Times, last week the Times and this week even the Guardian.
For those few mainstream journalists who had always been sceptical — like Christopher Booker — it must be a strange experience, like being relieved after living behind enemy lines. Who knows, one day even BBC News may ask tough questions. But it was the bloggers who did the hard work.
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Plus, this morning I got a laptop!!! About time I joined the ranks of mobile individuals. Even my two grandmothers have laptops already, teehee. Actually it's about time laptops caught up with me; this thing is awesome and I'm so happy I'll be able to bring it with me to Italy so I won't have to worry about finding a computer on campus all the time.
My prayers go out to those who are out fighting to protect our country so that we can enjoy this wonderful holiday in peace. Bobby, I love you and hope you are staying cool in Iraq! Hope everyone else's holiday was as merry as mine :-)


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I am amazed (and troubled) at how far some will go to appease the vast ages of time associated with evolutionary geology. It seems that the decisive factor for many "Bible believers" in interpreting God's Word is no longer, "What does the Bible say?," but rather "What do evolutionary dating methods indicate?" Sadly, for many people the deceptive evolutionary geologic timetable has become the father of modern biblical exegesis. Instead of the Universe and everything in it being created in six days (Genesis 1-2; Exodus 20:11), we are told it actually took billions of years, which can be "found" in "gaps" between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 or between each of the creation days. And even though the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 match up remarkably with the genealogy recorded in Luke 3, and although Jude confirms through inspiration that Enoch was indeed the seventh from Adam (Jude 14—just as Genesis 5 tells us), we are informed that many thousands (or millions!) of years could be inserted (and should be, according to many religious evolutionary sympathizers) between Adam and Abraham.
As if we had not "heard it all," some now are teaching that there was a great gap of time between Genesis chapters 10 and 11. Supposedly, since Moses recorded that the descendents of Shem, Ham, and Japheth spoke different languages in Genesis 10 (vss. 5,20,31), and since Genesis 11:1 states that "the whole earth had one language and one speech," there must have been a gap between Genesis 10:32 and 11:1! It is alleged that enough time must have passed in order for the descendents of Shem, Ham, and Japheth to the begin speaking one language.
If you have ever read Genesis 6-11, you likely have questioned why the order of events seemed to indicate that the Earth's population went from speaking one language (by the eight persons on the ark), to speaking a variety of languages and dialects (10:5,20,31), to then speaking one language again (11:1). It may be that you have asked the same question that I heard asked recently: "How can there not be a gap between Genesis 10 and 11?"
The reason that no gap of time exists between Genesis 10 and 11 is because the events recorded in these two chapters were not written chronologically. As Victor Hamilton stated in his commentary on Genesis: "We have here the unusual order of effect (ch. 10) before cause (ch. 11), or result preceding explanation" (1990, p. 347).
The simple fact is, Bible writers did not always record information in a strictly chronological sequence. Genesis 2:5-25 does not pick up where chapter one left off, rather it provides more detailed information about some of the events mentioned in chapter one. Several of the events in Genesis 38 involving Judah and Tamar occurred while the things recorded in chapter 39 and following took place. Making the assumption that the entire Bible was written chronologically hinders the trustworthiness of the text. How will one explain the differences in the arrangement of the temptations of Jesus recorded by Matthew (4:1-11) and Luke (4:1-13) if we always must conclude that things are written in sequential order? If Jesus only cleansed the temple once, how does a person explain why John mentioned this event as having occurred early in Jesus' ministry while the other gospel writers placed it later in His ministry (John 2:12-17; cf. Matthew 21:12-17)? Obviously, the gospel accounts were not arranged to be a strict chronology of Jesus' life. Similarly, Moses jumps ahead of himself at times, inserting parenthetical material like that found in Genesis 10.
Aside from the languages mentioned in Genesis 10, there is another "clue" in the text that reveals the events recorded in chapter 11 occurred before the descendents of Noah began speaking different languages and spreading throughout the Earth. In 10:25, it mentions a man named Peleg (meaning "division") who received such a name because "in his days the earth was divided." This is a clear reference to the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel described in chapter 11. The "earth" (i.e., people; cf. 11:1) divided when God confused the languages (11:7-8). Thus, the division in Peleg's day is linked contextually to the linguistic segregation at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).
When Genesis 10 and 11 are read with the understanding that not all events are recorded chronologically, one clearly sees how the events revealed in these chapters are entwined tightly with one another—so tightly in fact that those who seek to place a gap of time between them are doomed to fail. Linguistically speaking there was no pre-Babel confusion!
Hamilton, Victor P. (1990), The Book of Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).