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New Car Review
2012 Audi A4: New Car Review
Pros: Sporty yet upscale character, beautiful interior, much roomier back seat than in the past, available as a wagon (Avant).
Cons: Turbocharged inline-4 lacks power, CVT isn't pleasant, base front seats disappoint, Avant's cargo capacity is limited.
The 2012 Audi A4 is proof that a lot of automotive scribes were wrong. A couple years ago, you see, Audi got rid of the A4's optional 3.2-liter V6, leaving just a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 under the hood. The critics were beside themselves. "Audi's bringing a knife to a gunfight!" they protested. "Luxury shoppers demand six cylinders!" But two years later, the A4's selling better than ever-and BMW and Mercedes have followed Audi's lead by installing turbocharged inline-4s in their own entry-level sedans.
So from a business standpoint, Audi's 4-cylinder experiment has been a home run. From our standpoint as vehicle evaluators, however, the turbo four is something less than that. Rated at just 211 horsepower, the "2.0T" engine gets smacked around by the 6-cylinder competition, and BMW's new 4-cylinder 328i also shows its taillights to the Audi. The optional Quattro all-wheel-drive system helps off the line, but the A4's acceleration at speed is only satisfying if you've just been driving the 201-horsepower Mercedes-Benz C250. The 2.0T's fuel economy isn't great, either.
But here's the good news: just about everything else about this Audi is top-notch. From its beautifully trimmed interior to its surprisingly roomy back seat and available wagon body style, the A4 is really an exceptionally pleasant car. We're quite sure that we're not wrong about that. As for the 2.0T engine, you'll have to drive an A4 for yourself to find out.
Comfort & Utility
The 2012 Audi A4 sedan and wagon (Avant) are offered in three trim levels: Premium, Premium Plus and Prestige.
The Premium comes with 17-inch alloy wheels, foglamps, a sunroof (panoramic in the Avant), leather upholstery (an unusual standard luxury in this class), 12-way power front seats, a tilt-telescopic steering wheel, single-zone automatic climate control, the Multi-Media Interface system with a dash-mounted control knob and a ten-speaker audio system with an auxiliary input, an SD card reader and satellite radio.
The Premium Plus adds 18-inch alloy wheels, xenon headlamps with LED daytime running lights, LED taillights, auto-dimming mirrors, driver memory functions, Bluetooth and iPod integration, heated front seats and tri-zone automatic climate control-meaning the rear passengers get their own separate climate controls (another unusual feature).
The Prestige goes to town with adaptive xenon headlamps that include LED running lights, a blind-spot warning system, keyless entry with push-button ignition, rear parking sensors, MMI Plus with navigation and a console-mounted joystick knob and a 14-speaker, 505-watt Bang & Olufsen audio system.
Many of the higher trims' features-notably Bluetooth and iPod integration-are available on lower trims as options. Among the other available niceties, depending on the trim level, are a Sport package (including sport front seats, a sport-tuned suspension, a three-spoke steering wheel and shift paddles for automatic-transmission cars), adaptive cruise control and the Drive Select system, which allows the driver to adjust settings for steering, transmission (automatic models only) and throttle response.
The A4's default front seats are frankly a disappointment, providing little of the contoured lateral support we expect in a European sport sedan. The Sport package's upgraded front seats are much better in this regard, but only Premium Plus and Prestige models are eligible for this upgrade. The tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel has a wide range of adjustability, as does the standard multi-way power seat, so most drivers should have no trouble getting situated. However, drivers with long legs may find their left elbows hanging off the back of the door armrest.
The A4 sports classic analog gauges with that distinctive Audi font for the numerals. Like just about everything else in the A4's cabin, the gauges impart a sense of luxury and sophistication. The sole notable exception is the silver plastic trim that surrounds the gauge cluster and the MMI screen. For some reason Audi continues to feature this piece in the A4, even though the similar Q5 crossover ditches it in favor of higher-quality materials.
Ergonomics are hit-or-miss in the A4. Try to adjust the climate control's fan speed and you'll see what we mean-it's a two-step process. Whatever happened to a dedicated fan knob that does what it's told? On the bright side, we think Audi has made great strides with the MMI system's intuitiveness, which we discuss in more detail below.
The A4's back seat marks a huge improvement relative to previous A4s. Two adults can now comfortably ride in back for extended periods, which couldn't honestly be said before. And how about the available tri-zone climate control system? Separate rear climate controls are typically the province of executive-class luxury sedans, not entry-level cars like the A4.
The A4 sedan's trunk capacity is about average at 12.4 cubic feet, but the Avant disappoints, measuring 27.6 cubic feet behind the rear seats and a maximum 50.5 cubic feet with the rear seatbacks folded down. The Avant is still a handy car, but its steeply raked rear windshield takes a big bite out of its versatility.
The base A4 doesn't come standard with iPod or Bluetooth connectivity, but those are easy enough to add as standalone options, so we're not too annoyed. More objectionable is the absence of a USB port. If you typically rock out to a flash drive full of mp3s, prepare to alter your routine in the A4, though it's admittedly not that hard to buy an SD card and use the A4's standard SD slot for your mp3s instead.
In any case, the technological nerve center of the A4 is the MMI system, which comes in two forms. In standard spec without navigation, MMI is controlled via a knob on the center stack that requires an uncomfortable reach from the driver's seat. If your budget can handle it, we recommend stepping up to the MMI Plus system, which includes navigation, a more sophisticated display screen and a control knob that's conveniently mounted precisely where your right hand rests on the center console. Audi has greatly improved the intuitiveness of MMI's menu structure, and the console-mounted knob now features a nifty joystick-like top section that aids operation.
Performance & Fuel Economy
Every A4 is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 rated at 211 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. The sedan starts with front-wheel drive and a continuously variable automatic (CVT), while the optional Quattro all-wheel-drive system brings a choice of a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic. The Avant is only offered with Quattro and the eight-speed automatic.
The CVT is kind of the A4's dirty secret. Although the Quattro-equipped models get all the press, the front-wheel-drive sedan with the CVT is the "price leader"-the one Audi's ads refer to when they proclaim a starting price under $33,000 for the A4. We've found this transmission neither responsive nor particularly refined, and it seems to sap some of the engine's power. Although Quattro will cost you another grand or three, we think it's well worth the upgrade, as both of the Quattro models' transmissions are satisfying devices.
Fuel economy for the base sedan with the CVT is 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway, which isn't very impressive these days for a 211-horsepower sedan. Surprisingly, adding Quattro has basically no effect on fuel economy with the six-speed manual-rated at 21/31 mpg-while the automatic yields a barely worse 21/29 mpg. But when you consider that the BMW 328i gets up to 23/34 mpg from its 240-horsepower turbo four, not to mention the 274-horsepower Kia Optima SX's 22/34 mpg, you might start to wonder why the A4 isn't more efficient.
The 2012 Audi A4 comes with standard stability control, four-wheel antilock brakes and six airbags (front, front side, full-length side-curtain). Rear side airbags are optional on Premium Plus and Prestige.
In government crash-testing, the A4 received four stars out of five overall, including four stars for frontal impacts and five in all other categories. The independent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the A4 its highest rating of "Good" in every category.
Driving Impressions
The A4 has a more delicate feel than the rival 3 Series. The steering-wheel rims have a thinner diameter, and the car generally feels lighter on its feet, even though the scales say otherwise. The base suspension calibration is fairly conservative by sport-sedan standards, however, so we advise enthusiastic drivers to step up to the Sport package, which elevates the A4's handling to class-leading status (and adds those superior sport seats) without compromising ride quality too much. On the highway, the A4 is a champ, tracking straight and true with nary a vibration at any speed. Particularly with the softening of the latest 3 Series, the A4 has emerged as one of the top driver's cars in this segment, though the Audi's power deficit holds it back.
Other Cars to Consider
BMW 3 Series: The redesigned "3er" sedan boasts an amazingly strong and efficient turbocharged inline-4 in 328i trim, and you can also get a formidable turbocharged inline-6 in the 335i. Note that the 3 Series wagon is a carryover model for 2012, offered only as a 328i with the old naturally aspirated inline-6.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class: The new C250 sedan's turbocharged 1.8-liter inline-4 actually makes the A4's engine feel powerful, but the Mercedes also offers a smooth 3.0-liter V6 and a muscular 3.5-liter V6 if you want more urge. The C-Class wagon is not available stateside, unfortunately.
Infiniti G: The G drives like a larger car, but it's priced to compete with sport sedans like the A4, and it's got serious V6 power in G37 trim. Its 370Z-inspired chassis delivers inspired handling, though the Audi wins easily on refinement.
AutoTrader Recommends
We suggest avoiding the front-wheel-drive A4 with the CVT and targeting the Premium Plus Quattro with the Sport package. It won't be prohibitively expensive, and you'll get to enjoy one of the most capable and rewarding vehicles in this class.


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This contemporary white window 3 fold room divider features a stylish wooden frame finish, high quality two-way metal hinging so as it can fold in either direction and weighs 7 kilograms for easy moving. It is perfect for providing privacy, creating space and decorating your home or office. Each room divider is made with a wooden frame and features attractive rice paper finish which allows soft light to shine through while providing complete privacy. Comes individually boxed. No assembly required. Design is featured on one side only, with reverse side being traditional rice paper finish.
Estimated Delivery Time Frame: 7-14 business daysReference ID: 182351

subset: commoncrawl


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Brian Dennehy, a financial adviser at FundExpert, highlighted the most common investment mistakes made in 2012. Make sure you don't make them in 2013!
1. Taking an 'Invest and forget' approach
"Regularly reviewing your portfolio is a no-brainer. But how regularly? Our research shows that six months is the best time period over which you should review your funds. Being disciplined and adhering to a proven investment process can lead to a huge amount of additional growth and increase the likelihood of outperformance."
2. Investing in something without fully understanding the risks
"Namely retail bonds! There was a lot published in 2012 about the popularity of retail bonds due to their attractive interest rates of 5pc or 6pc a year, sometimes higher. However, investors should think carefully about the lack of protection and credit risk that accompany these relatively new products."
3. Investing according to fund or sector labels
"Funds aren't like Ronseal paint. It doesn't always do what it say on the tin. Many investors have been attracted to Absolute Return funds, which aim to deliver a positive return in all market conditions. But not all have achieved this aim and the funds within this sector can act very differently. Likewise, many popular funds in the Mixed Investment sector, which was previously known as the Cautious Managed sector. These contain funds which have between 20pc and 60pc of their assets in equities. Many of these aren't as safe as investors are led to believe, but the 'cautious' label can lull investors into a false sense of security."
4. Taking the wrong approach to income investing
"Investors need to change their mental approach to income investing. To take advantage of the potential of the best equity income funds investors must adjust their mental approach, away from an obsession with day-to-day moves of the capital value to a greater focus on the lack of volatility and relative predictability of the income, and the importance of income growth."
5. Investing in funds of funds
"Funds of funds are marketed as a way of accessing the best of breed in the investment management world in order to boost returns. But our research proves that they actually underperform standard fund managers, and we would recommend investors to stay clear of these funds."
6. Investing in fiction, not facts
"Most analysts take the view that when times get tough you shouldn't buy domestic smaller companies because they suffer more than larger, global businesses. This is a myth, and over the past 10 years an investor in the average UK smaller companies fund would have been rewarded with returns of 220pc. This contrasts with a relatively miserly 121pc for the UK All Companies sector, invested primarily in larger companies. Last year was a particularly good year for smaller and mid-cap companies, but more cautious investors missed out on these gains."
7. Obsessing over charges rather than performance
Mr Dennehy said investors should seek out outstanding performance, rather than simply trying to whittle down the cost of a fund. The problem is that the best can be hard to identify in advance. Costs do eat into returns, and paying more for active fund management is no guarantee of superior performance. Always keep an eye on costs, but don't forget to monitor how funds are performing too.
• What's your story? Email us at email@example.com


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To avoid Constance McMillen bringing a female date to her prom, the teen was sent to a "fake prom" while the rest of her class partied at a secret location at an event organized by parents.
McMillen tells The Advocate that a parent-organized prom happened behind her back — she and her date were sent to a Friday night event at a country club in Fulton, Miss., that attracted only five other students. Her school principal and teachers served as chaperones, but clearly there wasn't much to keep an eye on.
"They had two proms and I was only invited to one of them," McMillen says. "The one that I went to had seven people there, and everyone went to the other one I wasn't invited to."
Last week McMillen asked one of the students organizing the prom for details about the event, and was directed to the country club. "It hurts my feelings," McMillen says.
Two students with learning difficulties were among the seven people at the country club event, McMillen recalls. "They had the time of their lives," McMillen says. "That's the one good thing that come out of this, [these kids] didn't have to worry about people making fun of them [at their prom]."
In March, after the Itawamba County School District refused to allow McMillen to bring a female date to the prom, the district canceled the event altogether. McMillen and her lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union challenged that decision in court, and a judge ruled the district could not bar McMillen and her date.
The judge declined to force the school district to hold the prom because a parent-sponsored, private prom was being organized — and the understanding was that McMillen and her date were invited to that event. But Hampton says McMillen was never invited and organizers made it very difficult for her to find information on the time and location. That prom was later mysteriously canceled, with the Friday night event at the country club officially replacing it.
that is fucked
Carpe Diem!
That is sad. Terrible how people acts over something like that.
Yeah I read about that yesterday, that was some pretty messed up shit... If those chicks had bigger balls(lolz) they could've set the new bigger and better prom on fire.
Get at me
They sent her to the other prom like they would catch an illness or something, messed up.
"Next time you point a finger, I'll point you to the mirror"
well apparently thats what the students wanted since nobody really told her
Curiosity didin't kill no cat, a cat has 9 lives
Wow...you only get a limited number high school events that are memorable, and this poor girl had to spent it like an outcast just because the person she loved didn't have man parts..."Unalienable rights" for the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness huh? I guess that message didn't quite make its way to Mississippi...no surprise there (apologies to any Mississippians who don't fit into a Northerner's stereotype of Southerners)
Peace to you all, Real life is calling me. See y'all later
this is messed up, who cares if a chick brings a chick or a dude brings a dude to the prom (I never went to mine I was kicked out of my high school a week after my 18th birthday) as long as they don't plan on like going on a shooting spree or what ever who cares.
rainy_days_and_days wrote:
The everybody didn't wanna go to the lesbian prom. So they had they own. It's cool to me.
So, you're saying that it's cool that they set up a fake prom and tricked her into going to it? That girl wanted to be at the real prom with everyone else and be treated like a normal human being. But they couldn't accept that she was gay, so they didn't let her come, and she had to go to the bullshit prom with seven bloody people.
Could you fill me in on how that's cool at all?
to me this beggs the question of how many teens go stag/ette to there prom because of fear of "coming out of the closet" and being discriminated against in just such a manner.
since the judge "ruled the district could not bar McMillen and her date." i blame the student body and parents for this feasco. i mean really people, you don't have to like it, and you certainlay don't have to do it, but tricking her and hideing it from her is just plain wrong. seriously grow a back bone and pe a lil more accepting of peoples decision of who they date
offline? what is this Offline you speak of? i know not what it is
Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide
Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide
jtuki wrote:
rainy_days_and_days wrote:
Sekushi_Sushi wrote:
rainy_days_and_days wrote:
The everybody didn't wanna go to the lesbian prom. So they had they own. It's cool to me.
So, you're saying that it's cool that they set up a fake prom and tricked her into going to it? That girl wanted to be at the real prom with everyone else and be treated like a normal human being. But they couldn't accept that she was gay, so they didn't let her come, and she had to go to the bullshit prom with seven bloody people.
Could you fill me in on how that's cool at all?
So everybody suppose to be uncomfortable because she is gay and not enjoy they prom? She wanted a prom to go with her date she got one. They wanted to feel comfortable at a prom they did. Both side win to me. You can't force your gayness on anyone.
I hardly see how the two of them just being at prom is forcing their gayness on anyone. They should have just as much right to be there as anyone else.
So she has the right to make everyone feel uncomfortable and not enjoy they prom because she wants to enjoy her prom. My cousin know people that went to the other prom without her and everyone was happy she wasn't there not because she was gay but cause she made the school look bad.
SM= Slave Management
How did she make the school look bad? By being gay? All Im saying is it's a classic case of kids being too caught up in what someone else is doing. If they have time to worry about 2 chicks dancing together they obviously weren't having much fun to begin with.
Thats just awful...
I love how all the attention is focused on the lesbian couple. WOW, big surprise.
Nobody is advocating for the two students with mental disability or the kids that lack any social skills. So that's just routine nowadays huh? It's acceptable that they're being left out?
Only gay issues that are considered "hot topics" and controversial are being sympathized with? A pair of lesbians aren't popular in a school, big whoop. Cry me a fucking river. You want people to be treated equally then start off by seeing the whole picture. Seven other people weren't invited to the party held by the social norm, yet everyone cries over the lesbian couple. Sexual preference isn't the only reason for unfair treatment.
That's what she said. <---Greatest. Line. Ever.


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Message Board
Sheryl Anderson Message Board
Talk about the novels, new and used books that Anderson has written!
Author Anderson's Book Reviews
Killer Heels
St Martin's, May 2004, 24.95, 320 pp. ISBN 0312319460 After having dinner with one of her best friends, Molly Forrester agrees to go to her workplace, Zeitgeist magazine to show Cassady the ugliest piece of art in existence, one that The Publisher (that is always how he is referred to) has left in a prominent place. When they arrive at the office Molly steps in something wet and when Cassady turns on the lights, they find the murdered body of th...


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Car News
Pricing Announced for 2013 Buick Regal
- The 2013 Buick Regal starts at $29,990.
- The hybrid eAssist engine is now standard.
- The Regal goes on sale in September.
Buick recently announced that its revised 2013 Regal sedan will start at $29,990 including destination when it goes on sale later this year. While that figure represents a price bump of nearly $2,000 from last year's model, the increase is almost entirely due to the removal of a base model from the sedan's lineup.
According to Buick, last year's 182-horsepower 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine isn't available in the 2013 Regal. Instead, base-level versions of the upscale sedan will include the automaker's mild hybrid eAssist system as standard equipment. Formerly a $2,000 option on the Regal sedan, Buick's eAssist engine is capable of producing 197 hp and returning up to 25 miles per gallon in city driving and 36 mpg on the highway.
Buick says the eAssist technology, which is also used on the recently redesigned Chevrolet Malibu, provides a similar experience to conventional gasoline engines but returns better mileage. One reason for the fuel economy boost is standard start/stop technology, which turns off the engine when idle. The eAssist system also uses regenerative braking to capture energy that would otherwise be lost when stopping. Like other mild hybrids, eAssist uses an electric motor that reduces the load on the standard gasoline power plant.
"With eAssist, Buick is redefining what a 'conventional powertrain' means to customers," said Stephen Poulos, eAssist global chief engineer for Buick's parent company, General Motors. "It changes the fuel economy--but not the experience--for the 97 percent of new car buyers who aren't buying hybrids."
While Buick didn't give a reason for discontinuing the Regal's base engine, the decision likely helps the automaker distinguish the sedan from the smaller Verano. Released late last year as a 2012 model, the Verano offers a starting price of just under $24,000, putting it in close competition with entry-level versions of the Regal.
No other major changes should affect the 2013 Buick Regal, which goes on sale in September. In addition to its eAssist engine, the Regal offers a 220-hp turbocharged 4-cylinder power plant in Turbo Premium models, and a 270-hp version of the same engine in the wild Regal GS. Standard features include dual-zone automatic climate control, leather upholstery with heated front seats, Bluetooth, 18-inch alloy wheels and curtain side airbags.
What it means to you: With its newly standard eAssist hybrid power train, the Regal is a great choice for shoppers looking for a premium sedan that's good on gas.


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The RM Auction that happened in conjunction with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in Monterey, California had the Mercedes-Benz vehicles as stars. The vehicles were sold to high amount as expected, especially the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster.
The car, which sold for a whopping $9.68M was made in 1937 in Sindelfingen and had a price of $12,000 then. This particular Mercedes 540K Special Roadster, according to its papers was delivered on January 5,1937 to an industrialist in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For years, the car dominated in the market and it proved to be one of the most beautiful and most revered car in the world war era.
Other roadsters, the 1939 Mercedes-Benz 540K was sold for $4.62M and a 1936 coupe was sold for $3,080,000.
Source: RM Auction's Website


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Dear Editor;
On June 5th there is a primary election to determine the Republican nominee for Iowa House District 50. As a farmer, I know I won't get adequate results, as with most industries, without people showing up to work on time, or do their respective jobs and to do them diligently. If I don't show up at the farm to plant my crops during the right time period, the food supply will be negatively impacted.
Showing up to work everyday is also vital in the Iowa House of Representatives. Every vote brought up to the Iowa House floor is the duty, the responsibility, and the opportunity to represent approximately 30,000 people in a representatives's state house district, as well as all Iowans.
Representative Pat Grassley has served six years in the State House and I know no one who works harder to ensure that he presents the people who elected him every time he is given the opportunity. It is almost unheard of for an Iowa House Representative to cast a vote every time one is presented on the House floor. Representative Pat Grassley has served six years in the House participating in thousands of votes during that time period. In fact, he is the only representative to cast a vote on all legislation on the House floor during that time period.
Achieving this feat isn't easy, especially when he is raising two adorable girls with his wife Amanda while also farming the land he grew up on with his father and grandfather. Pat has told me that if he missed a vote on the House floor, that he would feel like he was breaking his oath to the people who elected him.
Representative Grassley is the only person on the ballot on June 5th vying for reelection to House District 50 to cast a vote on the House floor every time. As he is one of the hardest working members of the Iowa House, I can't imagine the Iowa House of Representatives without Representative Pat Grassley. Please join me in supporting Representative Pat Grassley by voting for him on June 5th.
Dennis Dolmage
Grundy Center, Iowa


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Column: Ever wonder why the NCAA has so much money and so few scruples?
Turns out that apology the NCAA was shamed into little more than a month ago regarding the University of Miami didn't go nearly far enough.
The higher-ups almost certainly knew that, and likely didn't care. Because even as they were apologizing for one unsavory stunt, they remained tight-lipped about another.
Remember all that as you watch the rest of the basketball tournament, which provides nearly every penny of the NCAA's annual operating budget, and a chance for the organization to promote itself during the commercial breaks.
That way, when "One Shining Moment" begins playing, it will make you wish somebody was actually shining a light on what an inept and unethical body the NCAA has become during the brief reign of president Mark Emmert.
Back in February, the NCAA released a report from an outside law firm it hired to look at how its own investigation into shenanigans at Miami's football program was conducted. Not surprisingly, the verdict was — wait for it — miserable.
The report focused on the NCAA's lack of effective oversight, and most of it centered around the rogue behavior of several members of its enforcement staff. Conveniently, it also found that no NCAA laws or bylaws were violated, giving president Mark Emmert and any staff members who hadn't been fired, forced out, resigned or retired by that point an excuse to hang onto their jobs.
Instead of being chastened, though, the NCAA then went ahead and leveled the dreaded "lack of institutional control" charge at Miami the very next day. Why it took so long for the NCAA to arrive at that conclusion in a case stretching back to 2010 is cause for speculation. But if you combed through the report from the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, you'll see the NCAA was engaged in a few shenanigans of its own, most outrageously by paying the lawyer of imprisoned Miami booster and convicted Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro to help them gather evidence against the school.
As if that display of chutzpah wasn't enough, Emmert responded to questions about the report by quickly glossing over the accusation that "certain investigative tactics" the NCAA employed were clearly beyond its jurisdiction. Next, he addressed a question about whether the report had damaged the NCAA's credibility by rushing to his own defense.
"The damage is, first of all, for those people who were already skeptical or cynics, this feeds into their cynicism," he said.
Turns out us skeptics weren't skeptical enough, either.
According to a report in the Miami Herald, the university will accuse the NCAA of further misconduct later this week in an attempt to get the infractions case against the school dismissed.
The Herald report said a second investigator the NCAA used in the Miami case — Stephanie Hannah, a 20-year NCAA veteran who replaced Ameen Najjar, who was fired — tried to use the similar tactics. She asked Shapiro's lawyer, Maria Elena Perez, to extract information damaging to the university from his bodyguard, Mario Sanchez. Cadwalader attorney Ken Wainstein told the newspaper that little tidbit never found its way into the law firm's report because it concluded that Hannah assumed the NCAA had already blessed the earlier deal between Najjar and Perez.
Sometimes, apparently, two wrongs do make a right. And we're going to be reminded of that again come June, when the NCAA puts on its case during a full hearing.
There's no doubt plenty of improper benefits were handed out to players during Shapiro's tenure as a sideline sycophant. But it's hard to see how the NCAA is going to justify piling any more sanctions onto those that Miami self-inflicted.
Miami president Donna Shalala fired a warning shot in the organization's direction back in February, and she's become bolder every day since.
"We have suffered enough," Shalala said at the time. "Many of the charges brought forth are based on the word of a man who made a fortune by lying."
Now she knows the NCAA tried to dip into that poisoned well to prejudice the case not once, but at least twice. According to the Herald report, the school will also allege that NCAA investigators lied to interview subjects about what other people who were interviewed said, trying to trick them into revealing even more incriminating evidence.
It's hard to root for Miami to get off with time served. But that looks more likely with each report tearing into the NCAA's M.O., and the threats circulating around the Miami campus about a court challenge are picking up steam.
Defending the NCAA in this instance is a waste of breath.
Anyway, this time of year it's focused on its main purpose — making money. And the NCAA will never, ever apologize for that.
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at Twitter.com/JimLitke.


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Zora Neale Hurston Essays Free
The Life of Zora Neale Hurston Essay
1284 Words6 Pages
Zora Neale Hurston, known as one of the most symbolic African American women during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930's. Hurston was known as a non fiction writer, anthropologist and folklorist. Hurston's literature has served as a big eye opener during the Harlem Renaissance, celebrating black dialect and their traditions. Most of her published stories "depict relationships among black residents in her native southern Florida, was largely unconcerned with racial injustices" (Bomarito 89). Hurston was unique when it came to her racial point of views, promoting white racism instead of black racism. Even though her works had been forgotten by the time of her death, now her literature has left a bigger impact to future literature…show more content…
Zora Neale Hurston, known as one of the most symbolic African American women during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930's. Hurston was known as a non fiction writer, anthropologist and folklorist. Hurston's literature has served as a big eye opener during the Harlem Renaissance, celebrating black dialect and their traditions. Most of her published stories "depict relationships among black residents in her native southern Florida, was largely unconcerned with racial injustices" (Bomarito 89). Hurston was unique when it came to her racial point of views, promoting white racism instead of black racism. Even though her works had been forgotten by the time of her death, now her literature has left a bigger impact to future literature writers. Hurston's life was full of an odd mixture between praise and censure, prosperity and poverty, pride and misfortune. This had led her to both positive and negative times in her trajectory. Her given name is said to be Zora Neale Lee Hurston was born on January 2, 1891, even though there has been some mystery surrounding her real date of birth. Nevertheless, Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama to a baptist preacher named John Hurston, and to a seamstress named Lucy Potts. Hurston was the fifth child in the family. When Hurston was a toddler, her family relocated to Eatonville, Florida which was the first black town in the United States. After moving to Eatonville, Hurston's father became mayor of the town for three consecutive
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Hurston's depiction of black life in her writing stands in sharp contrast to the harsher views of black life depicted in works by such novelists as Richard Wright, who attacked her writing as "counter revolutionary." Unlike the work of Wright, who was committed to using his writing to demand social change, Hurston's writing is, first and foremost, a celebration of being black in America.
Wright was not the only critic, during her lifetime or afterward, to accuse Hurston of political naïveté; it is a charge that deserves consideration. It is true that the reader of Hurston's work searches in vain for some sensitive portrayal of the true plight of blacks during the Depression, the period during which Hurston wrote most of her best works. Poverty in the Eatonville she portrays is more likely to be the setting for a story or a joke than a cause for concerted political action.
Furthermore, it is equally true that Hurston, who grew up in a nourishing black community, remained a defender of some aspects of racial separatism well after the Civil Rights movement had identified integration as its goal; she even criticized the Supreme Court's Brown v. the Board of Education ruling, which demanded desegregation of public schools. If Hurston thought that blacks should be wary of what integration had to offer, it was because she valued so highly what black culture had to offer and feared the possibility of black culture getting lost in an attempt to homogenize society.
The title of her most successful work of folklore, Mules and Men, might seem to suggest a grim setting of men being treated like beasts of burden. In fact, though, the stories within the book celebrate a bond of cleverness and zest that the people of the South she chronicles share with the folkloric animals about which they tell stories. It is not that Hurston was not a political writer but that the politics of her writing came from a greater appreciation for the culture and values that black Americans had developed than for the culture from which they were often painfully excluded. Furthermore, as becomes clear in some of her essays, such as "How it Feels to Be Colered Me" (reprinted in a collection of Hurston's essays, I Love Myself When I Am Laughing . . . , 1979, edited by Alice Walker), she understood before many that it was only from a perspective of mutual respect that the black and white races would be able to cooperate.
When Hurston's literary reputation began to be revived in the 1970's, it was as much because of an appreciation of her sexual politics by feminist readers as because of her celebrations of black America. Her great novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is as much as anything else an account of main character Janie Crawford's sexual awakening and search for equality in a relationship. Furthermore, her autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road, is an often frank (though sometimes guarded) account of a very independent-minded woman's walk through life.
It is generally true that Hurston's political vision, which was shaped within an autonomous black community, applies less well to the poor and often racially besieged black communities that existed elsewhere in the South. It is also generally true that the further she got from the realities of Eatonville as the setting for her writing, the less effectively her imagination and craft seemed to serve her. This can be seen especially in Seraph on the Suwannee, her one attempt at centering a novel on mainly white characters. It is the most disappointing of her fictions. The exception to this rule may, with some justification, be said to be Moses, Man of the Mountain, her version of the escape of the Hebrews from Egypt and the founding of Israel; in fact, however, the book is successful precisely because it rewrites the story of Moses as a black fable about the establishment of an autonomous nation after the end of slavery.
The most valuable lesson that can be taken from Hurston's writing, and her most important recurring theme, is the enormous beauty and power a distinctive voice can have when it has the courage to show itself as its cultural and personal self rather than hiding behind imitations of others.
Mules and Men
First published: 1935
Type of work: Folklore
Hurston returns to her native South to collect folklore.
In writing Mules and Men, Hurston not only found a way to make a crucial bridge between her anthropological and literary ambitions but also created a lasting treasure of stories that captured the authentic voices of southern black storytellers in the late 1920's. The book is divided into two parts. The first part details her collecting of folklore in Florida, the second part in New Orleans. The order in which the tales are related is ostensibly random, simply the order in which people told them to her, but as her biographer Robert Hemenway points out, and as inspection of the text reveals, the clusters of the stories are, to some extent, thematic.
Though there are a few stories about men and women in the first part of the book, most of the earlier stories deal with the days of slavery and with competition between the races in general. In the tales of slavery, the most common character is John, sometimes called Jack, who is often introduced as "Ole Massa's" favorite slave, though he inevitably ends up tricking the slave owner somehow or another. John is a consummate trickster figure who, though he will often engage in hard physical labor, always triumphs through the power of his wits, and occasionally, good luck.
Sometimes John's triumphs are smaller than at others—sometimes he merely survives—but at times, when he has been attacked brutally or viciously, his revenge is brutal indeed, as in "Ah'll Beatcher Makin' Money," in which he tricks Massa into killing his own grandmother, then into being drowned. John shows his proudest, most dignified, side in the story Hurston calls "Member Youse a Nigger," in which he works extra hard for a year to arrange a banner crop for his master, on the condition that he be freed at the end of the year. Ole Massa does indeed keep his side of the bargain but shows his true self when, as John leaves, he keeps calling to him, "Member John, youse a nigger." John replies to him after every call but keeps walking until he gets to Canada.
Many of the other stories are talking animal stories, similar to the ones Joel Chandler Harris had collected in his Uncle Remus stories some years earlier. In many of these, the animals are clever stand-ins for blacks and whites, such as the story "What the Rabbit Learned," in which Brer Rabbit knows enough to keep away from Brer Dog, despite Brer Dog's protestations that dogs have all agreed to be friends with rabbits. Perhaps the most important of these stories is the story "The Talking Mule," in which an old mule called Bill, after years of doing plowing for the man who owns him, one day speaks up and refuses, which so startles the old man that he runs away as fast as he can. The encoded message, preaching resistance to oppression, could not be clearer.
Part 2 of Mules and Men has an entirely different feel to it. In part 1, it is clear that Hurston is collecting stories with which she is often already familiar, in an area that, though she occasionally stands out as citified, she basically considers to be home. Part 2, however, takes her to New Orleans, where she sets about collecting the lore of Hoodoo, which she argues is a suppressed religion. Whereas in the first part, Hurston herself is often as important as the stories she is collecting, in the second part, she removes herself more to the background, usually playing the role of student to the people she writes about.
Part 2 is written as series of profiles of individual Hoodoo doctors. Luke Turner, one such doctor, tells Hurston the legend of Marie Leveau, a famous nineteenth century Hoodoo doctor; Anatol Pierre is a Catholic who also claims to have learned from Leveau. Dr. Duke is a root doctor, who uses herbs and roots he gathers from the swamps. Hurston is very careful about detailing the initiation ceremonies that different doctors make her undergo as well as the elaborate rituals they use to get rid of people, to get people back, and even to kill them. With Kitty Brown, the last Hoodoo doctor profiled, Hurston herself participates in a ritual to cause the death of a man who left one of Kitty Brown's clients. When the man begins, several days later, to feel a pain in his chest, he returns to the woman he left, who quickly has the curse canceled. It becomes very plain in these stories that Hurston takes these rituals seriously indeed.
One of the complaints some reviewers had about Mules and Men was its general reluctance to show the economic realities of the southern blacks about which Hurston was writing. To some extent, this seems to have been the result of a deliberate choice by Hurston to emphasize the qualities she most cherished. The South that Hurston records in this volume of folklore is one fiercely alive with humor, irony, and mystery.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
First published: 1937
Type of work: Novel
A black woman's life becomes a personal odyssey in search of personal values.
Janie Crawford, the main character of Hurston's most important novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is the granddaughter of a slave woman, Nanny, who was raped by her owner, and the daughter of a woman who was raped by her schoolteacher. It is against the heritage of this racial and sexual violence that Janie tries to find a personally fulfilling life. The novel begins with Janie returning to Eatonville after the death of her third husband, Tea Cake Woods. Janie sits with her old friend, Pheoby, to tell her story, and the bulk of the novel, although narrated in the third-person voice, is the story Janie tells.
Her story begins when Janie's grandmother, Nanny, spies her enjoying her first romantic kiss. Realizing that Janie, at the age of sixteen, is almost a woman and that Nanny herself will not be around much longer to take care of her, Nanny...
(The entire section is 4227 words.)


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From the how-cool-was-that?!-files: Last week, I got to hang with Rachael Ray here in New York, at a party to celebrate her tabletop line. I got a chance to see some of the holiday dishes she's rolling out, and man, are they cute: colorful trees and even her trademark little owl. Just as I was oohing and aahing over the plates, Rachael herself came by. So I seized the moment, got this snap, and asked her a question: How do you get kids to eat their veggies? She didn't bat an eye before giving me her answer:
Make healthy food a fashion choice. "Say to your child, 'Would you like tonight's veggie to be red, green, or yellow? What do you think would go best with the main dish?' " Once he's been cast in the role of dinner stylist, it's harder to snub that spoonful of peas!
Do some reasoning...with seasonings. "Also ask your child how the veggie should taste; should you make it spicy, cheesy, taco-flavored? There are lots of ways to dress up produce so it has a flavor he enjoys."
Give veggies some extra a-peel. "Let your child help prep the veggies while you're cooking." Depending on his age, he can peel, shred, or even slice 'em with a kid-safe knife.
Sounds good? Then what are you waiting for: veg out tonight!


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(CNN) -- Two years ago, Angela and Willie Gillis decided they were ready for a healthier lifestyle. Through diet changes and daily exercise they lost a combined 500 pounds.
CNN readers were inspired by the Gillises' story, posting more than 1,000 encouraging comments for the couple. They also showed that weight loss success stories come in all shapes and sizes.
So inspiring! You can do anything you choose to do!RT"@cnnbrk "@cnnhealth: This couple lost 500 lbs in 2 years: on.cnn.com/ZZKUYi— Liza ™ (@1hipsterdoofus) March 22, 2013
Seems our readers are doing their part to make America a Fit Nation.
"AWESOME! So inspiring!" Holly Jean Paquin Michels posted on the story. "My husband and I (along with another couple) are 3 months into our own transformation and have both lost almost 40 pounds. I love that your love for one another shines through in your commitment to this great challenge! That's how we are conquering it too. Congratulations!"
"Three years ago my wife and I each lost a lot of weight -- I lost 70 pounds and she lost 65," alphacat4 said. "We have kept it off. Amazing how much better we feel. ... She was able to quit taking some medications and I stayed off medications."
"You two keep up the GREAT work!" Joseph Elliott urged. "My girlfriend and I have lost about 300 pounds over the past 3 years combined. ... We still have a long way to go, but reading (stories) like yours help us stay focused!"
"I love seeing a weight loss story like this one that focuses on healthy eating and exercising," Jacqueline Mayse said. "My husband and I both decided to start losing weight this past January and it really helps to have each other for support and motivation. We have both lost almost 20 pounds so far and our goals are 40 to 50 pounds total. People keep asking us 'What are you doing to lose weight?!' and seem a bit disappointed when we tell them calorie counting and exercise. Haha. You're an inspiration!"
The Gillises' story provides hope to many married couples who fall into bad habits after the wedding. Research shows both men and women tend to gain more weight than their single counterparts.
@cnn @cnnhealth Good stuff. You do need someone to keep you accountable and motivated to succeed. Alone it's very hard to do.— MattyKwood (@MattyKwood87) March 22, 2013
Reader Stimpee525 has lost 25 pounds since December, finally falling out of the "obese" BMI range.
"Not gonna lie -- I was trying to keep up diet-wise with my husband and PACKED on weight," she said. "After awhile I decided enough was enough and joined Weight Watchers. ... I showed him this article last night. He's been getting on our exercise bike so it's a start."
"My wife and I would lose weight here and there, but (had) never tackled both diet and exercise together," NightWatch posted. "Over the last 9 months, we've lost 134 pounds combined as well -- 75 for me, 59 for her -- and we've got another 100 combined to go to get where we need to be. And we'll get there!"
Of course, all the single ladies -- and men -- out there aren't slacking off either.
"I've decided to lose weight," Iggy Noramous said. "In seven weeks I've gone from 255 to 239. Only about 40 pounds to go."
"I'm in week three of my 'healthier eating lifestyle change' and I find this story very inspiring!! Y'all did that!!" Dana Colson said.
@wgillis just read @cnnhealth story and was so proud of you.Congrats.I am down 40 pounds to 207 and feeling better for me.Keep it up!— Wes Woodland (@WesWoodland) March 23, 2013
@wgillis just read @cnnhealth story and was so proud of you.Congrats.I am down 40 pounds to 207 and feeling better for me.Keep it up!— Wes Woodland (@WesWoodland) March 23, 2013
"I like stories like this, keeps me motivated," LostinSLC1969 said. "I am working to lose 75 pounds right now. So far down 10 in 6 weeks and staying on top of my goal."
"I copied this article, along with the pictures, and will read it every morning until I lose the last 100 pounds I want to lose," LRob said. "I've lost 35, and now I know I can do it."
Losing weight isn't all about looking better on the outside. Two of our readers really expressed what losing weight can do for your health overall:
"Being healthy just feels good," Melissa Rideough said. "I decided to lose 45 lbs a year and a half ago and it is the best thing I ever did for myself. I had no energy at 165 pounds and often got sick to my stomach. Now I don't feel like I have extra weight holding me down when I want to do activities."
"I used to be a chubby 275 too," GreatGrizly1 said. "Then one day I started doing what I love doing -- hiking and backpacking. Within the course of a year I lost 74 pounds, and at 6' 1", I had a 33" waist and a 56" chest. ... I felt GREAT. And that was the reward."


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Teaching children math is no feat! Knowing that my daughter would start her math curriculum this week made me anxious! Although she is only in Kindergarten, I still wanted to expose her to math. The search was on! I was determined to find the best math apps for children! Between the hundreds (maybe thousands) of math apps for kids available, I have listed the top 10 below. The final determination was based on a few different things... reviews from parents, reviews from other websites…Continue
Added by Shivani Cotter on September 17, 2012 at 9:53pm — No Comments


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Chief Privacy Officer
Memberships | Contact Information | Leadership Biographies
|Kathleen Styles
Chief Privacy Officer
Kathleen Styles is the Department of Education's first Chief Privacy Officer where she serves as the senior advisor to the Secretary on Departmental policies and programs related to privacy and confidentiality. She is a frequent speaker on issues related to student privacy, and she coordinates technical assistance to states, districts, and schools related to privacy best practices and compliance. She heads a new division dedicated to advancing the responsible stewardship, collection, use, maintenance and disclosure of information at the national level within the Education Department. Kathleen is responsible for the Department's operations relating to the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA), the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), records management, information collection clearance, departmental directives, privacy safeguards, and disclosure avoidance. Kathleen is an attorney, licensed to practice law in Texas and the District of Columbia, and she is CIPP-G certified in government information privacy.
- State Bar of Texas
- District of Columbia Bar
- International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
- American Statistical Association (ASA)
- American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP)
Contact Information:
Kathleen Styles
Chief Privacy Officer
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Leadership Biographies
- Angela Arrington, Deputy Chief Privacy Officer
Acting Director, Records and Documents Management Division (RDMD)
- Michael Hawes, Director, Student Privacy Policy and Assistance Division (SPPAD)
- Dale King, Director, Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO)
- Gregory Smith, Director, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Service Center
Home | Leadership | Organization | Outreach | Other Useful Links


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Pathology Program Featured in Journal
The December issue of the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education Article featured a story regarding the outstanding and nationally recognized pathology and clinical pathology training program in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences.
Full Citation
Lairmore M, Oglesbee M, Weisbrode S, Wellman M, Rosol T, and Stromberg P. "Developing and Fostering a Dynamic Program for Training in Veterinary Pathology and Clinical Pathology: Veterinary Students to Post-Graduate Education." J. Vet. Med. Educ. 34(4): 464-472, 2007.
Visit the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education website.


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Three tiered scalloped dress - Valentino inspiration
Added Nov 8, 2011
by G-A-
Oxford, United K...
I really loved the dress on the last picture in the FW 2010 show from Valentino (photo credit to InStyle), which inspired me to do a similar skirt. I drafted the pattern myself, from a simple hemi-circular skirt (with no darts) and made three tiers. I also modified the back to have it longer than the front, in the same way that the original dress did.
I used facings for the scalloping,and a really useful tutorial from the Coletterie blog. I have constructed the tiers directly onto the lining. I Where I could improve is the closures: putting the invible zipper gave me lots of trouble and it's still a bit bubbly but I am really happy with the overall cute (but not too much) aspect of the dress and I only used a wool remnant (about 85cm by 150cm) from a previous project to construct the skirt. The fabric is not as sheer as the photos seem to show.
Material Notes
Ivory wool challis, ivory lining, ivory invisible zip.
6 Comments Sign in to add a post
Nov 29, 2011, 05.32 PMby kelleymcaloon
I would improve it by making the back smooth. Put the seams on the side, including the zipper. Just my opinion. I think its beautiful!! great job
2 Replies
Nov 29, 2011, 09.17 PMby G-A-
Great idea, I hadn't thought of that (I basically did exactly the same back than the original). Although I am not quite sure I had enough fabric to follow this great suggestion.
Nov 29, 2011, 11.35 PMby kelleymcaloon
Thats whats great about sewing for ourselves. We get to try and try again!!
Nov 29, 2011, 04.49 PMby janene
Great vision. And fabulous execution!
1 Reply
Nov 29, 2011, 09.17 PMby G-A-
Thanks Janene!
Nov 16, 2011, 09.37 PMby G-A-
Thanks for the nice comments!
Nov 13, 2011, 11.13 PMby lenarrrd
This is just lovely! Nice work :)
Nov 13, 2011, 07.40 PMby chased-away
what she said! ;)
Nov 13, 2011, 07.08 PMby JulietSews
This is too gorgeous for words! Great job
1 Reply
Nov 13, 2011, 08.32 PMby G-A-
Thanks, Juliet! That's so nice a comment.
Add to Favorites 18 people added it


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Time to check your medicine cabinets:
Pharmaceutical company Novartis is voluntarily recalling its over-the-counter drugs nationwide due to concerns that bottles may contain broken and mislabeled pills.
The recall includes:
- Excedrin and NoDoz products with expiration dates of December 20, 2014, or earlier
- Bufferin and Gas-X Prevention products with December 20, 2013, or earlier expiration dates
The mix-up occurred at the company's Lincoln, Nebraska, facility, where the OTC drugs may have been packaged with powerful prescription painkillers made at the same facility, Reuters reports.
Consumers should contact the Novartis Consumer Relationship Center at 1-888-477-2403 (available Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time) for information on how to return the affected products and receive reimbursement.
Stay up-to-date on the latest toy, clothing and baby gear recalls with our Recall Finder tool.


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Emmy nominations 2012
As expected Mad Men received the most nominations: 17. But American Horror Story also received 17. Really??? What is it with industry people and Ryan Murphy anyway? It's awesome for Connie Britton, obviously. And still, even though I know I should be over it by now, if Connie Britton is to be associated with any show that receives 17 Emmy nominations in one year, it really should have been Friday Night Lights. Also, in that category, up against Julianne Moore for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie, her chances aren't great.
How is American Horror Story a miniseries/movie and Downton Abbey a Drama? Sure. Go ahead and email me the Academy's obscure explanation but there were only 9 (if you count Christmas) Downtons to 13 American Horrors so I'm not sure you'll convince me that the term "mini" is being accurately applied in this case.
By the way, Downton Abbey and its embarrassingly sh-tty second series received 16 nominations. Because, well, Academy voters can't really resist an English accent and a tea party for real. This happened at the expense of many shows that were far superior including The Walking Dead and The Good Wife and Justified and, and, and, and...
In Drama however, it's worth nothing that for the first time the major networks were shut out of the category. All six nominees - Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Homeland, Mad Men - come from cable. Does that mean network will stop focusing so much on reality television? Doubtful.
In the Comedy category, without wasting too much time on, ugh, Big Bang Theory, they gave a lot of love to Girls and Lena Dunham, didn't they? Don't get me wrong, I do like the show. I'm just not sure that as a comedy, it deserves to be there more than Parks & Recreation... WHAT THE F-CK?????????
You know what that's all about though? It's not like the voters understand the humour in Girls any more than they do in Parks & Rec. But with Girls it's like the way they don't understand their granddaughters but still love them anyway, whereas Parks & Rec just makes them feel stupid.
Spot the name that doesn't belong:
Connie Britton, American Horror Story
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway & Gellhorn
Ashley Judd, Missing
Emma Thompson, The Song Of Lunch
I don't know what Ashley Judd is doing there either. If you've watched even 10 minutes of Missing you understand. They screened that sh-t at the TCA in January and people were laughing at the sad parts. Her kid gets taken from her and it's supposed to be intense and we're all giggling like it's the first season of Eastbound & Down.
Finally, who understands the number of nominees in each category? There are 7 Best Comedy Actresses to 6 Actors and only 6 Best Drama Actresses to 8 Actors. If they can play fast and loose with the number of slots in certain categories, I don't see why they can't be more creative in filling them.
SO disappointed that Nick Offerman missed the presentation today. There were weather issues delaying his travel. Jimmy Kimmel, in pyjamas, stepped in on his behalf. Love that Kerry Washington didn't make a big ass deal of her outfit. Others would have gone full press Valentino for an occasion like this.
Click here for the full list of Emmy nominations.
Kevin Winter/Getty


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I've written an article here on SQL Team about Application Locks in SQL Server 2005 Application locks aren't a well known area of locking in SQL Server, but they can be very useful for special scenarios. They work in a analogous way to the lock() construct in .Net and are basicaly user defined mutexes in SQL Server. It's a second part in the locking series articles: Part 2: Application Locks (or Mutexes) in SQL Server 2005 Part 1: Introduction to locking in SQL Server 2005
posted @ Tuesday, January 08, 2008 5:13 PM | Feedback (5) |
This is a very "serious" talk presented by legendary Israeli investor and community-builder Yossi Vardi. It talks about the dangers of blogging especially for males. Direct video link here. Worth the watch!
posted @ Saturday, January 05, 2008 12:15 AM | Feedback (0) |
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In 2007 I've worked a lot with NUnitForms. It contains all major controls testers and you can easily create
your own ones for e.g. a Data Grid or a 3rd party control. I had to create one for Janus GridEx and it wasn't really
that hard. A little reflection went a long way :) Lately, the whole project was at a standstill for some time but now it seems
it's revitalizing nicely with new people on board. So if you haven't yet go take look. This is just one open source GUI testing platform
and I'm sure there are others... I haven't...
posted @ Thursday, January 03, 2008 9:21 PM | Feedback (12) |
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Carters at Work
Year Completed : 1988
Size : 4.2m x 1.5m (14ft x 5ft)
Location : Shires Yard, off Milsom Street, Bath
Current Status : Yard redeveloped as Milsom Place and mural removed.
MURALWATCH - do you have any information about this missing mural?
We were in touch with the developers/management of Milsom Place a few years ago but they didn't give us any clues about the fate of this mural. We would love to hear from anyone who might have any knowledge about its fate.
- Carters at Work
- An outline of the mural was created in Shires Yard so that Phillipa & Kennedy could get the right scaling and proportions.
- Modelling has begun on the left horse at their workshops.
- Philippa is finishing off the modelling of the left horse.
- Kennedy is fixing the left horse after the centre section with the cart has been positioned first.
- The left horse is finished and fixed to the wall of Shires Yard.
- The centre section with the cart is at the modelling stage.
- The finished centre section with the cart is fixed to the wall of the new shopping centre.
- The finished mural in place with artificial lighting.
- Carters at Work
- Carters at Work
- Carters at Work
In the late eighties, a development was proposed in between Milsom Street and Broad Street in central Bath. This was to be called Shire's Yard, because one Thomas Shire had run a yard on the site in the eighteenth century. From here, goods were received for transport by horse and cart between Bath and London. We were approached to submit designs, and the theme was to be something which evoked the horses and carters who had used this area. Researching, it was difficult to find contemporary drawings of the kind of wagons or containers that would have been in use in the eighteenth century. As on other occasions, I mixed authentic details with some creative imagination. I modelled up a kind of flat bed wagon a little like that in John Constable's 'Hay Wain' painting and our wicker log basket became the model for a container carried by one of the men. I asked the advice of a girl who had a good knowledge of working horses' harness and we had to assume that this had not changed that much over the years. I wanted to work on a bold scale in this mural so we chose to use a coarse clay body known as 'crank.' We stained the pieces with iron and manganese oxides, colouring the whole in shades of brown and ochre to give a richly toned monochrome effect. The mural was to go on a plain Bath stone wall and rather than appearing to be superimposed on top we wanted the low relief to emerge from the surface. The mural, together with a descriptive piece along side, gave passers by an interesting insight into an unusual aspect of Bath's history. There is a downside of a mural such as this being so relevant to the history of the site. Shires Yard was redeveloped in 2007/8. The shopping precinct is now known as Milsom Place and the image of carters and their wagon is no longer relevant. The mural was removed by the developers and we have not been to ascertain what has happened to it since.
Lat/Long : 51.383844, -2.361209
Present whereabouts of mural not known. MURALWATCH - We need YOUR help!


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tuffymae needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 36 designs submitted by 16 freelance designers.
We always pick a winner and guaranteed payment.
This contest should produce a series of five very different caricatures that can be used on our sites, mailings, letterhead, sales letters, T.V. shows/appearances, etc.
If you can deal with effective feedback and get this done properly not only will your work be internationally exposed but you'll also get a testimonial from Azam (the subject) as well for future business.
We have regular projects/work available so make this *killer* and impressive so we can hire you regularly.
This project is for fun, somewhat-professional, realistic and trustworthy cartoons/caricatures to be used in sales letters,websites, envelopes, letterhead, etc. The main use is to add energy to long-form sales letters and to use these images in the margins to highlight key points.
We need to be able to add word/thought bubbles to each version. And when noted each cartoon should be pointing to the right and/or left.(Obviously this can be done with a simple'mirror' upon submission/completion)
The drawings will be of Azam Meo, there is a link below to get some pictures. To sum it up it has been years since the boxing or model days (you'll see for yourself,and we still tease him) as his weight and looks have gone south LOL! Overall you should leave out the triple chin as his profile is still nice. He is 6'3 and 250, about 20-30 pounds overweight although it carries well with broad shoulders and large chest. However, we do NOT want this picture to be a 'model' type nor a hideous one. Somewhere in between, looking good but still endearing.
Images will be of the head and body - no background needed. The body isn't as important as the face but still enough attention should be paid to it.
There will be five total versions done, the pictures below have different version of clean shaven, mustache and goatee and five-o-clock shadow. Also different hair length pictures included as well. Use your judgement with what look goes with what version.
We provide regular feedback and will let you know. As always please note we ALWAYS select winners and your payment is guaranteed.
Here are the versions:
At least one version should have the logo for and readable address of http://www.AzamMeo.com.
1 - Well dressed, *very* well dressed with friendly, inviting and warm smile.This will be used as a default, with text like 'Here's why I you should give me your money'
2 - Exrememly engraged, jumping upand down with smoke of the ears, mouth open while screaming and eyes matching. Think Steven Tyler.
This will be used at points of 'This really pisses me off...' or 'I HATE when...'
3 - In straight-jacket as Azam is shaking to get out with crazed look on his face.
This is for 'When you see the price, you'll know I'm crazy' or 'Have I lost my mind togive you...'
4 - Leaning against something, arms either crossed or resting on top of an object about chest-high.This will be used to 'hold' video players,testimonial boxes, guarantees, etc.
5 - Smiling, with arm stretched to right/leftholding big arrow that says 'Read This!' A variation would be holding be Azam sticking a flag-sign into the ground with editable lettering on sign.
This will be used throughout letter/s to draw attention to key points.
At least some pictures should be wearing a T-Shirt of the logo and a readable http://www.AzamMeo.com. Other than that clothing can include polo or T-Shirts with casual slacks or work out pants. Don't be limited.
Examples of cartoon/caricature work we like:
You can get the images needed here:
We are completing a T.V. contract to air in Eastern Europe and Asia on smaller networks, if selected these graphics will be used there as well. If it helps you can first submit rough images and then, based on feedback, move forward.
- Colorful, animated and friendly
Black and white versions as well
Realism - somewhat-realistic facial expressions
Logo incorporated on clothing on at least some of the images
Unforgettable facial expressions - unless otherwise noted
Too professional or 'just another BLANK'
Generic looking
See description
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Mouse Spiders
There are eight species of mouse spiders in Australia and they are widely distributed across the mainland.
There are eight species of mouse spiders in Australia and they are widely distributed across the mainland. They vary from 10 mm - 35 mm body length and all have distinctively bulbous head and jaw regions. They are often confused with funnel-web spiders. While mouse spider bites are not common, a few have caused serious effects in humans, with symptoms similar to funnel-web spider envenomation. Fortunately, mouse spiders are not usually abundant in heavily populated urban areas.
Identifying mouse spiders
- Mouse spiders have high, bulbous heads and jaws
- The carapace is smooth and shiny
- The eyes are spread across the front of the carapace, not closely grouped
- The spinnerets are short, the last segment domed and button-like
- Male spiders have long slender pedipalps
- Male spiders have no mating spurs on the legs
- Males of some species have distinctive colour markings but others are black overall
The following key features distinguish the mouse spiders from other large black spiders:
- bulbous head and jaws
- shiny carapace
- eyes spread across front of carapace
- short spinnerets
Suspects gallery
Mouse spider species are often mistaken for funnel-web spiders. Both can be large and shiny black. Compare these images and spot the differences.
Where mouse spiders live
Mouse spiders are found over much of mainland Australia, in habitats ranging from open forest to semi-arid shrubland. The species with the largest distribution is the Red-headed Mouse Spider. This may be related to the fact that the spiderlings of this species are known to disperse aerially by ballooning, possibly over many kilometres. This is a very rare ability among mygalomorph spiders, most of which disperse over relatively short distances by walking.
Mouse spider burrows
Why 'mouse' spiders? No good reason. But possibly the name was given for the large, supposedly 'mouse-like' burrows built by the big inland Red-headed Mouse Spiders. These large, silk-lined burrows vary from 20 cm to 55 cm deep and are widest in the entrance and bottom chamber areas. A side chamber extends off the main burrow shaft, usually closed by a trapdoor. It provides a refuge from predators and a safe place for the egg sac and spiderlings.
However, the burrow's most unusual feature are the two surface trapdoors set almost at right angles to each other. The silk and soil trapdoors often merge well with the ground, making them hard to see (and increasing the impression of scattered rather than aggregated burrow sites, making accurate estimates of their abundance difficult). They may be thin and wafer-like or thick and plug-like. Having two doors probably increases both prey catching area and efficiency. A few silk triplines may extend outwards from the entrances. These can help alert the spider to approaching prey or male spiders and also help with surface navigation while hunting. Prey is usually ambushed from within the safety of the trapdoor 'hides', but mouse spiders have been observed foraging outside the burrow at night. With their powerful jaws and venom, they can tackle prey ranging from ants, beetles and spiders to small lizards and frogs.
Little is known about the burrows of other species. The forest dwelling Eastern Mouse Spider appears to have a single, flap-like door and a shallow burrow with a side chamber. Unlike other species, this mouse spider has occasionally been reported living in large aggregations. Recently, almost 300 specimens were collected from the backyard of a house on the central coast of New South Wales after flooding rains drove the animals from their burrows.
Daytime wanderers
Most male mygalomorph spiders wander by night in search of females during their mating season. This is to avoid both day-active predators and excessive heat and water loss. However, the males of several mouse spider species can be seen wandering about by day during the late summer to early winter months (especially after rain), the mouse spider mating season. These daytime wanderers are unique in having distinctive body colour patterns. Eastern Mouse Spider males (Missulena bradleyi) from eastern Australia have a blue/white patch on the front of the abdomen. In M. pruinosa from northern Australia, this patch is yellowish-cream and spreads over much of the abdomen. These spiders live in open forest habitats where their pale blue and yellow/cream patches may help them blend in with the dappled shading of the forest floor, perhaps making them difficult for predators to see.
Most arresting are the males of the Red-headed Mouse Spider (M. occatoria) which ranges across semi-arid Australia. These males have a bright reddish-orange head and jaw region and the abdomen has a gunmetal blue tinge. In open woodland and shrubland habitats this pattern may act as both warning and disruptive colouration, deterring some predators and avoiding others by blending in with the sharply shadowed soil and litter background.
By contrast, little is known about the wandering behaviour of some small, forest dwelling mouse spider species that are entirely black in colour.
Locating a mate
While wandering, male mouse spiders hold their long pedipalps (carrying the mating organs) extended forwards, presumably seeking an airborne scent (pheromone) associated with the female or its burrow. Once the burrow vicinity is reached the male taps the ground and silk around the doors until the female emerges. If she is receptive the male follows her into the burrow where mating occurs.
Bites and first aid
Some mouse spiders have a very toxic venom which is potentially as dangerous as that of the Sydney Funnel-web Spider. However, few cases of serious envenomation have been reported, the most serious resulting from the bite of a male Eastern Mouse Spider, Missulena bradleyi near Brisbane. Although the males are often sighted, bites by Red-headed Mouse Spiders are rare, probably because the spiders occur in less densely populated areas. Because of their potential toxicity to humans, first aid treatment should be provided as recommended for funnel-web spider envenomation. Fortunately, funnel-web spider antivenom has proven effective in cases of mouse spider bite.
Do you have a question or comment? Please contact our Search & Discover team.
Last Updated:


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Egypt: Risk Assessment
Due to the current political unrest in Egypt, the information on these pages may not reflect current conditions in the country.
Country Risk Rating
Business Climate Rating
- Tourist potential
- Manageable foreign debt
- Political and financial support of the Gulf monarchies and Western countries
- IMF Support Programme
- Large gas deposits
- Poverty (40% of the population) and high unemployment
- Recurrence of security issues in Sinai
- Twin deficits
- Banking system vulnerable to sovereign risk
Current Trends
Increase of Growth in 2018
With the support of the International Monetary Fund, Egypt embarked on an ambitious economic reform program in 2016. Among the significant measures, the liberalization of the Egyptian pound on the foreign exchange market was accompanied by a depreciation of 50% against the US dollar, and led to an increase in foreign exchange reserves of 80% during the year, mainly due to the influx of capital. The depreciation of the currency has increased the competitiveness of exports while the rise in the price of imports has raised inflation to more than 30% in 2017. Social transfer policies mitigated the effect of price increases on the poorest households, but consumption slowed. Inflation should gradually decrease in 2018 as the exchange rate impact is absorbed, but rising prices for intermediate goods and services will continue to cripple the purchasing power of average households. The entry into force of the law to promote investment, as well as the respect of the agenda of the reforms initiated with the support of the IMF, should reinforce the foreign investors' confidence. Foreign direct investment is expected to reach USD 10 billion in the 2017/2018 fiscal year, focusing on the hydrocarbon sector. The increase in gas production following the start of extraction of the giant Zohr deposit (discovered in 2015 by ENI), as well as the start of production of BP's West Nile Delta project, is expected to increase gas production while lowering the cost of energy bills. Despite a law encouraging industrial development, investment in the industry will likely remain constrained by the central bank's restrictive monetary policy, with interest rates rising by 700 basis points in 2017.
Continuation of Budgetary Consolidation
Budgetary consolidation efforts under the IMF program should result in a gradual short-term reduction of the public deficit, which fell slightly in 2017/2018 but is expected to decrease more significantly in 2018. The increase of VAT from 13% to 14% in July 2017, as well as the rise in customs taxes, allowed a slight increase in budget revenues. Public spending remained controlled by the moderation of the wage bill with a de-indexation of bonuses for civil servants. Despite a drop in the state's participation in fuel financing (50% increase in the price of refined oil in June 2017), the elimination of subsidies planned for 2017 has been postponed to 2018, the government having made the choice to absorb the additional cost of the exchange rate impact on regulated and energy products. Although the primary deficit declined in 2017, the depreciation of the Egyptian pound and the rise in domestic interest rates led to an increase in debt service, which remains the third largest expenditure item. Characterized by short maturities, the debt remains mainly domestic. It could therefore be hindered by the tightening of the ECB's monetary policy. The IMF loan and the two global bonds issued in 2017 (USD 7 billion), however, contributed to an increase in the portion denominated in foreign currency. The pursuit of budgetary consolidation in 2018 should lead to a primary surplus of 0.4% and slightly reduce the trajectory of public debt, which remains high.
The transition to a floating exchange rate allowed for a reduction in the external imbalance after an adjustment period. Higher exports, tourism revenues, and expatriate remittances have resulted in lower current account deficits. The capital account surplus has increased due to an increase in foreign direct investment, in addition to portfolio investment. Private debt in foreign currency, held largely by the banking system, has been reduced, limiting the risk factors associated with external impacts. Exports are expected to continue to grow in 2018. Price competitiveness gains and increased production of gas and electricity should continue to generate a decrease in the current account deficit in 2018, via increased exports.
2018 Election
The Egyptian presidential election is scheduled for May 2018. President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi has announced that he will not seek a third term, as the constitution allows only two successive four-year terms. However, no alternative successor seems to have emerged, Mr Sissi having eliminated all forms of opposition – Islamist as well as both secular and liberal. The president's security regime is often criticized for not respecting human rights, and for the repression of certain figures of the Egyptian revolution of 2011 in particular Nevertheless, Egypt remains a pivotal center of both regional stability and the fight against terrorism, which enables it to play a leading role in the Middle East and maintain close relations with both Europe and the United States. Egypt has been the main mediator in the political reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. The country also sided with Saudi Arabia, one of its allies, in the Qatar crisis, becoming one of the Arab countries outside the Gulf Cooperation Council to boycott the Emirate.


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|Lions hire Xanders
|Page 2 of 2
|thelomasbrowns [ January 31st, 2013, 11:36 am ]
|Post subject:
|Re: Lions hire Xanders
Really good analysis of the hire:
Lions Gab: Brian Xanders in place to overhaul Lions' scouting scheme
http://www.freep.com/article/20130130/S ... 9/sports01
11:15 AM, January 30, 2013 | Comments
By Anthony Kuehn
Detroit Free Press Special Writer
Anthony Kuehn is the editor of the Detroit Lions blog Lions Gab. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. Get in touch with Anthony at firstname.lastname@example.com or on Twitter @lionsgab.
I decided to put the mailbox on hold this week, after getting some questions and seeing the reaction to the Lions' move to hire Brian Xanders.
First, Xanders is not going to replace Martin Mayhew. He is going to report to him. Second, Xanders is going to help build an internal scouting system for the Lions, and this is where the questions start.
No, the Lions don't have an internal scouting system. That does not mean they don't have a scouting department. That does not mean they don't scout players. It is not the main reason the Lions have had some bad draft picks.
The Lions actually helped create the NFL's first scouting service in 1963. It was called LESTO. That stood for Lions Eagles Steelers Talent Organization. In 1964, the Bears joined, and it became BLESTO, then BLESTO-V, when the Vikings joined years later. Currently, the Giants, Redskins, Vikings, Jaguars and Bills use the service, as well as the Lions. Several other scouting organizations formed throughout the years, but now only two exist. In 1977, the three main scouting services combined their player workouts, which created the modern-day NFL combine.
Twenty-seven of the 32 NFL teams use BLESTO or the National Football Scouting organization, with the other five relying on in-house staff only. So as you can see, the Lions are not behind the times nor understaffed nor any of the other misconceptions being thrown around.
NFL scouting services serve a very simple purpose: They help teams gather tons of information with a minimal commitment. Each team in the service is required to commit at least one scout to the organization, and those scouts work as a team to build player biographies and personal profiles. They also build a rough ranking of players and publish the data in reports. These reports then serve as a starting point for the individual teams' scouting departments, as they try to scout several hundred players in a single year.
Lions coach Jim Schwartz worked under two of the greatest talent evaluators in the NFL -- Bill Belichick and Ozzie Newsome -- in Cleveland. When the Browns moved to Baltimore, they fired Belichick as coach but kept Newsome and several other coaches and front-office personnel on board, including Schwartz.
Belichick and Newsome both run their scouting services in-house, and both have won Super Bowls with that process. I don't have any inside information on this, but my guess is Schwartz has been pushing for the Lions to bring things in-house for a while, since that is how he cut his teeth in the business. This could be the source of the tension between Schwartz and the front office that was talked about several weeks ago. It is not certain that the Lions will no longer subscribe to BLESTO, but early indications point in that direction.
Xanders helped the Atlanta Falcons build a scouting system, and he has experience in pro and college scouting, as well as coaching. So his addition is not a sign of potential turnover. It is, in fact, the opposite. If the Ford family didn't think Mayhew and Schwartz were the right men for the job, they certainly wouldn't be making a huge investment in building a new scouting system.
This new system will not be in place for the 2013 draft, and since the bulk of player scouting already has occurred, Xanders' impact on this draft will not be as dramatic as many think. He will come into the scouting process and help evaluate players at the combine and review film. He will be in draft meetings and help build the draft board. And he will be in the draft room on draft weekend. He won't be building the new scouting process until after the draft has concluded, so the major changes won't be in effect until 2014.
These changes will help bolster a front office that is better than fans give it credit for. Draftmetrics.com just did an analysis of all 32 teams' drafts over the last 10 and five years. The Lions ranked 31st in the 10-year period (2003-12), as many fans would expect. However, in the last five drafts, the Lions rank 10th in the NFL, ahead of teams such as the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Lions' front office and coaching staff did a remarkable job rebuilding an 0-16 team and taking it to the playoffs. The late Tom Kowalski always said getting a team from bad to good wasn't the hard part; it was getting them from good to great that was difficult.
The Lions accomplished a lot in three years, then took a step back. They have made some coaching-staff changes, some front-office changes, and they will make several roster changes. Lions fans need to deal with the fact that organizations that consistently win don't clean house every three to five years, they learn from their mistakes and move forward. Fans should've be upset if the Lions kept the status quo after taking a big step back. But the team actually made some changes and heavily invested in the future, just like the best organizations do.
|BillySims [ January 31st, 2013, 12:16 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: Lions hire Xanders
The Lions accomplished a lot in three years, then took a step back. They have made some coaching-staff changes, some front-office changes, and they will make several roster changes. Lions fans need to deal with the fact that organizations that consistently win don't clean house every three to five years, they learn from their mistakes and move forward. Fans should've be upset if the Lions kept the status quo after taking a big step back. But the team actually made some changes and heavily invested in the future, just like the best organizations do.
In other words: Patience is a virtue. I think someone on this site has been preaching patience this off season.
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Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) — The best explanation of the U.S. government shutdown points to two factors. The first involves information, or what people think they know. The second involves incentives, or what motivates our elected representatives.
From decades of empirical research, we know that when like-minded people speak with one another, they tend to become more extreme, more confident and more unified — the phenomenon known as group polarization. One reason involves the spread of information within echo chambers.
If you are in a group whose members think the Affordable Care Act is horrible, you will hear many arguments to that effect and very few in the other direction. After a lot of people have spoken, Obamacare will seem much worse than merely horrible; it might well be taken as a menace to the republic. In recent months, the House of Representatives has been a case study in group polarization.
In a free nation, of course, no member of Congress can really spend life in an echo chamber. They are aware that people disagree with them. To appreciate what is happening with the shutdown, we have to understand a bit more about the nature of political beliefs. It turns out that when people's convictions are deeply held but false, efforts to correct those views can backfire. Such efforts tend to entrench and fortify those very convictions.
When the news media corrects a false proposition (say, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, or that George W. Bush banned stem-cell research), both conservatives and liberals may become even more committed to that proposition. Partisans and extremists know what they know, and efforts to correct what they know make them firmer still (and angrier to boot). It is for this reason that the beliefs of some of the most extreme House Republicans, and their constituents, appear almost immune to correction.
With respect to incentives, elected officials are often motivated by one goal above all: to get re-elected. They are focused on their own electoral prospects, not those of their party. They know they have to answer to their constituents, not to the nation as a whole.
Within the Republican Party, many members of Congress have no reason to fear a challenge from the left. There is no chance that they will lose their seat to a Democrat, and a moderate Republican isn't going to run against them. The only threat is from the right. With respect to a controversy that the public is closely following, the main question may well be whether, in the view of the most extreme conservative voters, the legislators will "cave" to President Barack Obama or instead stand up for their convictions. Is it any wonder that many Republican members are willing to run the risks of a shutdown?


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Talk About a Love / Hate RelationshipSteve Marsi at . Comments
Below is the perspective of Meredith... Goldstein, that is. She's a Boston Globe columnist, and we thought you'd like to see what she has to say about her namesake and the Grey's Anatomy protagonist:
I have my reasons.
She whines incessantly and puts y's on the end of words that don't need them (after all, she's "dark and twisty").
She can't be alone, she only talks about her love life, and an entire hospital staff orbits around her.
She got her job because of her mom.
During the 15 seconds she was single, she met a perfect veterinarian who cooks.
She used a sick dog to perpetuate adultery.
She slept with a million guys and never freaked out to her roommates about whether she got an STD.
I hate her because McDreamy is a stupid nickname.
I hate Meredith for the same reason someone posted this note on a blog last winter at 2:20 a.m.: "I think Meredith's character needs to gain about 20 pounds and stop crying." And for the reason someone posted this one on a blog just a few months ago after last season's finale: "Meredith looks like some skeleton someone found on an archeological dig and did a voodoo spell on to bring her back to life. Someone get her a Twinkie, a pizza and a Luna Bar and fast."
At least Ally McBeal sang sometimes.
I hate Meredith because sometimes she has a lisp and sometimes she doesn't.
I hate her even more because the lisp is cute.
When Meredith is doing her job, which involves cutting people open and exposing their organs, I'm pretty sure she's thinking about boys. She breathes loud to be dramatic. She probably doesn't even have asthma!
She thinks she's unique -- everybody's parents get sick and divorced.
I hate Meredith because she wants what she can't have.
Because she's probably going to get her way.
Because if she doesn't get her way, I will feel incomplete.
And because tonight, against my better judgment, I will tune in and root for her just like everybody else.
Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.


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Call 708-354-1265
We ship anywhere in the US, or
Pick Up In Countryside, IL. 60525
Model# ATO-24G
This item will be available in June 2017, Place your order online or give us a call.
All orders need to be paid in full before we can place the order.
I will update information as soon as it is available.
Used Restaurant Equipment, Restaurant Equipment
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UPS, the UPS brandmark and the color
brown are trademarks that are used with permissionby the owner,
United Parcel Service of America, Inc. All rights reserved.


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Ronaldo Reis Santos has not received any gifts yet
I am looking to play in the Griffith Park/Los Feliz areas weekend mornings, let me know if you are interested.
Take care,
Hey Ronaldo,
My name is Paul and im relatively new to tennis, i would consider my self an advance beginner. Don't really know my number rating aswell. Id like to go out on courts to improve my game and would like to have some good rallies. Im from the Silver Lake area so if you want to hit sometime we can find some courts half way, but if you don't mind traveling I know some great courts! (lighted & free)
Hope to hear from you soon!
Hi, I'm Mark, the founder of Tennisopolis, the world's largest and most active tennis network. Please share Tennisopolis with your friends by supporting our Facebook page. Click here for a Guide to Meet Tennis Partners.
Have a look at our introduction page which will help you navigate the massive network which now has over 37,000 members and 500 local tennis groups.
Friend me,
Mark, The Mayor of Tennisopolis
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People's Place Blog
Behind the scenes of our cultural collections.
Waitangi Day
New Zealand's annual celebration of the signing of the Waitangi Treaty.
Indigenous Australian Stores
A video on the storage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait objects.
Return of indigenous cultural property.
The Muriel Snell Collection
This donation consists of approximately 200 Tongan materials.
Indigenous Communities and the Digital Realm
What can the digital space do for Indigenous communities?
Wonnarua People Visit the Collection
A video of the Wonnarua nation viewing the Morrison Collection.


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Nikolay Davydenko seems to be shaking away his demons left and right.
First, he's standing up against the ATP anti-corruption team ("Tennis Integrity Unit") investigating the match-fixing scandal, refusing to hand over phone records of his brother, Edouard, and his wife, Irina, until the ATP decides to foot his legal bill. His lawyer, Frank Immenga, told BBC Sport that charges will be dropped very soon, and that it's not out of the question that Kolya will sue the ATP for damages.
Meanwhile, he just reached the quarters at the Sony Ericsson Open for the first time in his career, taking out Mario Ancic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Ancic was on a roll before falling to the Russian, beating 13th seed Andy Murray and 18th seed Juan Monaco (le sigh) in the previous two rounds. Kolya has yet to face a seed, and will take on Janko Tipsarevic in the quarters. The only time the two have met was in the hard courts of Russia in last year's Davis Cup tie. (Kolya won that one 7-6, 6-1.)
As usual, he's wearing a ho-hum kit from Airness.
(photos by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)


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Toronto, Canada (PRWEB) January 10, 2013
Join esteemed speakers, Dr. Agnes Klein, MD, MPH, Director, Centre for the Evaluation of Radiopharmaceuticals and Biotherapeutic Products in the Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate, Health Canada, and Dr. Richard Larouche, BPharm, MD, Director, Medical Affairs, Early Stage Development, Pharmanet/i3, as they examine the current risks and approaches.
The outbreak of new infectious diseases on a global scale such as SARS, swine flu (H1N1), avian flu (H1N5), received wide press coverage and caused panic in the general population. As of November 30, 2012, there were nine confirmed cases of a SARS-like illness in the Middle East, five of which were fatal. When the next pandemic is due is unknown, but it is only a matter of time before the next pandemic is a reality. Simultaneously, infectious diseases such as TB, polio, rubella, pertussis, etc., are on the rise in developing countries as well as the West.
Phase 1 research typically involves confinement of volunteers in a group living setting, sometimes for extended periods, thus putting them at risk of exposure to communicable disease carried by fellow subjects or clinic staff. First-in-humans research with compounds targeting the immune system, or special populations such as the elderly or those with renal or hepatic impairment, represent even greater potential risks.
Dr. Klein will discuss Health Canada's approach and requirements. Dr. Larouche will discuss the practical dimensions of the problem, and what must be done at the clinic level, over and above regulatory requirements.
For more information or to register go to http://xtks.in/xto552irb.
Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global Life Sciences community. Every year thousands of industry practitioners turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.
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