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Medtronic is expanding its portfolio of products for endovascular aortic repair in the United States with two new medical devices: the company recently received approval from the FDA for the Endurant II Aorto-Uni-Iliac (AUI) Stent Graft System and the FDA's 510(k) clearance for the Sentrant Introducer Sheath; both devices will be on exhibit at the Medtronic booth during the Society for Vascular Surgery's Vascular Annual Meeting, which runs 30 May–2 June in San Francisco, USA.
The Endurant II AUI Stent Graft System is the only FDA-approved AUI device in the United States indicated for the primary endovascular treatment of infrarenal abdominal aortic or aorto-iliac aneurysms in patients whose anatomy does not allow for the use of a bifurcated device.
Whereas use of the bifurcated device requires access to both iliac arteries, the AUI device requires access to only one iliac artery. In published studies of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, current global usage of AUI stent graft configurations averages 5% (range 0–26%) for intact aneurysm and 39% (range 0–91%) for ruptured aneurysms.
"The new Endurant II Aorto-Uni-Iliac Stent Graft extends the proven performance of the Endurant System to patients with difficult access," said Michel Makaroun, chief of vascular surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and co-director of the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute. "By maintaining the deliverability, conformability and deployment accuracy of the bifurcated Endurant device, the AUIconfiguration offers aneurysm patients with challenging outflow anatomies a better option for a successful endovascular aortic repair."
As with the bifurcated Endurant II Stent Graft, distinguishing features of the Endurant II AUI Stent Graft include a low delivery profile, tip capture for easy and accurate deployment and compatibility with contralateral iliac limbs and aortic extensions for ultimate patient applicability.
Sentrant Introducer Sheath
The Sentrant Introducer Sheath is specially designed for use with the Endurant II AAA and Valiant Captivia Stent Graft Systems and is also compatible with competitive systems. The Sentrant Introducer Sheath is inserted at the access site in the patient's femoral artery and advanced upwards into the iliac arteries to facilitate the implant procedure and enable smooth passage of the stent graft delivery system en route to the treatment site in the aorta.
The Sentrant Introducer Sheath can accommodate a wide range of anatomies, with diameters of 12–26 French and shaft lengths of 28cm. Other distinguishing features of the accessory device include optimal seal for superior haemostasis, reinforced coil for kink resistance, hydrophilic coating and flexibility for easy tracking through tortuous and calcified iliacs and a dilator locking mechanism for secure positioning.
The Sentrant Introducer Sheath received the CE mark in April 2013. Its FDA clearance expands the accessory device's availability to endovascular specialists in the United States.


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In a beautiful cohesion of dreamy indie-pop melodies and old school dance anthem sensibilities, Timmy Trumpet and Florian Picasso come together for the lovestruck collaboration 'Armageddon.' Paired alongside the single is Timmy Trumpet's Chill Mix, which sees the producer dial down the club beats and let the falsetto hooks and glossy synths glide into the sunset.
'Armageddon' came into fruition about a year ago, when Timmy and Florian realized they needed to collaborate. Florian sent over an initial sketch for the track to Timmy, who flipped the main hook into his own inimitable style.
Russia's Artem Stolyarov (aka ARTY, ALPHA 9) embraces 80s nostalgia with his latest single as ALPHA 9, 'All That I Can'.
Few artists share such a storied history with Anjunabeats than Artem Stolyarov. Redefining trance and progressive with a festival edge in the early noughties, the likes of 'Around The World', 'Kate', 'Rebound' (with Mat Zo), and 'The Wonder' helped shape the sound of the genre.
With their #1 Shazaming Scandinavian double platinum single 'Kind of Love' nominated for a Spellemann Award (the Norwegian Grammys) for Song Of The Year, producers extraordinaire Rat City return with their first single of 2020, 'I Just Wanna Dance' a horn-drench slice of soulful pop, sure to keep toes tapping and airwaves sizzling into the summer, with Isak Heim on lead vocals.
Since the release of their acclaimed single with Kiesza 'Naked', the trio has been staying busy, amassing 75 million streams worldwide and producing and writing singles for pop star Dagny (the #1 Scandinavian radio hit 'Come Over' plus her new single 'Somebody').
R3HAB released his brand new track "Feel Alive," ft. ARIZONA, which was part of Warner Bros.' "SCOOB!" official movie soundtrack.
There are only two dance music artists featured on the movie's OST – R3HAB and Galantis. In 2019 R3HAB's "All Around The World" with A Touch of Class quickly became his biggest ever record already topping 200M streams across platforms and achieving gold & platinum status in 8 countries. R3HAB's 2019's official remixes include NOTD, Rammstein, Tom Walker, Sofi Tukker, Danny Ocean, Kygo, The Chainsmokers, and P!nk to name a few.
With an eclectic blend of styles, this new EP proves Farius is one of the UK's most entertaining dance music acts. Opener "Forever" is a euphoric whirlwind of a track with its uplifting, pumping vibe, while on "Kechno" Farius explores a darker, moody sound, mixing progressive and techno elements to create a singular club-focused sound.
Farius' rapid rise in the world of Progressive & Trance is showing no signs of slowing down. With the forthcoming release of his highly anticipated debut album and releases under his belt on Anjunabeats, A State Of Trance, Enhanced, Vandit, Zerothree, and others, Farius continues to build his reputation as a dynamic, versatile and exciting producer with his own distinctive sound.

subset: commoncrawl


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|Pongr Blog ~ For Winning the Fashion Contest.
|We Love Color ~ I did a review for them.
Pongr Blog~ For the item that I brought with my winnings.
The judges' choice award in the #Beauty contest goes to Amy B. from Michigan! Amy earned herself a $50 CVS gift card for a remarkable number of beauty shots showing-off how she uses her makeup and beauty products. While she's the #1 Fan of Bare Escentuals on Pongr, it was her COVERGIRL shot that caught our attention because of the clever product placement of her favorite NFL football team, the Detroit Lions. Amy shows how a girl can have grace &style, and still be an amazing football fan. Very seasonable of her.
Kmart Fashion Blogger Style off
April 28th, 2013~ OUTFIT HIVE OFTD WINNER
October 29, 2013 I'm featured on eShakti pinterest page under real fashion for real people
January 9th, 2014 love link up at xlovehappyx
Outfit Hive Facebook page cover. February 2014
March 11, 2014 I'm featured on eShakti pinterest page under real fashion for real people
April 7th, 2014 Featured on Hopeful Kiss website.http://hopefulkiss.com/
July 11, 2014 I was featured on Pinterest OOFOS footwear under there feel the OOFOS bloggers.http://www.pinterest.com/
December 9, 2014 Pineapple Chicken feature on Rachel of Garay Treasures. https://garaytreasures.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/bloggers-who-have-inspired-me-14-link-up-thank-you-giveaway/
This page is where I will be putting where I have been Featured at. Sorry for the crappy pictures. I couldn't get screen shot to work.


text: In Casting Quiet Waters, some of North America's most respected literary writers take us on a fishing trip and use that as an opportunity to explore issues of the human condition. A little more than five centuries ago an odd English nun named Dame Juliana Berners (The Prioress of St. Albans") wrote the first book about fishing. Her obscure but legendary tome, a Treatysse of Fyshynge wyth an Angle, is as much a work of philosophy as a how-to manual, and in it she prescribes fishing as a cure for domestic calamatie." This anthology responds to her advice. A dozen of North America's top writers embark on individual fishing trips and see if limpid water and the silence of wild places will help them reflect on their own lives and calamities. The exploratory process of writing is not so different from the process of trawling the unknown invisible world beneath the surface of a river or lake. The angler and writer both toss lines, chase shadows, and spend countless hours pondering what might have been if they'd handled that last opportunity with more gentleness and skill.


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// Archives
Keera Studios: Radical Innovation in Programming
September 15, 2017
"Entrepreneurship is like a computer game in which you have to master every level before achieving success. Startups repeatedly stumble and have to go back to the drawing board. The best way to skip some levels and to increase the odds of survival is to learn from others who have already played the game." – …


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At Henkel, you can build on a strong legacy and leading positions in both industrial and consumer businesses to reimagine and improve life every day. If you love challenging the status quo, join our community of over 50,000 pioneers around the globe. Our teams at Henkel Adhesive Technologies help to transform entire industries and provide our customers with a competitive advantage through adhesives, sealants and functional coatings. With our trusted brands, our cutting-edge technologies and our disruptive solutions, you will have countless opportunities to explore new paths and develop your skills. Grow within our future-led businesses, our diverse and vibrant culture and find a place where you simply belong. All to leave your mark for more sustainable growth.
Dare to make an impact?
- Management of both internal and external communications including template development, management of contact lists, and cataloging historic communications.
- Management of Henkel/Loctite local partnerships and sponsorships.
- Assistance and coordination of regional sales events including but not limited to site management, collateral, invites, samples and materials.
- Management and reporting of distributor fund reconciliation monthly.
- Maintenance and communication of sales territory lists.
- Management of branded merchandise and assets including PO creation and inventory management.
- Assistance with mobile marketing management (scheduling and operational budget).
- Assistance with the management and reporting for marketing and sales samples.
- Support for the marketing team with financial administrative tasks.
- Support with special projects working with the commercial team.


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Colleague 7 offers a standard integration with Mailchimp.
Marketing tools and services will help a business to deliver professional messaging that they want to convey to their target markets and potential customers.
Marketing tools are essential because they are used as a means of regular communication to inform potential customers and existing customers of its products and services, but also for analysis and engagement statistics so that a business has a strong understanding of it's market.
Mailchimp is an innovative marketing platform for small-medium sized businesses and serves millions of customers around the world. Mailchimp has been designed as an alternative to oversized expensive email software and gives business owners access to high-end tools and resources.
Within Colleague 7, a user will have the ability to upload Candidates and Contacts to a Mailchimp Audience. Once uploaded all future correspondence will be recorded and tracked in Colleague 7 as history logs against each record.
For more information please watch our video.
Video: Mailchimp Integration in Colleague 7


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Phone: 847-546-8800 ext 2296
Degrees and Certifications:
Mrs. Victoria Raddatz
Hi! I'm a 6th grade math teacher at JTMMS. I've been teaching in RLAS since 2008. I LOVE working with students and helping them overcome challenges. I believe that every child can learn, and my mission is to make sure every child does learn. In my classroom, students are given challenges to help them grow as mathematicians, problem solvers, and people.
I attended Illinois State University for my bachelor's degree and Dominican University for my master's degree. I love learning and growing, both personally and professionally. I have teacher certifications in special education, middle school math education, and the education of English language learners.
When I'm not teaching math or going to school, I enjoy dancing, reading new books, and doing puzzles. I also like traveling to new places and learning about other cultures. Some of my favorite things are penguins, cupcakes, drinking coffee and Converse shoes.


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If you thought mobile Internet was the future, you should probably check what year it is. According to comScore, 2014 ended with mobile devices accounting for 60% of all Internet use. That's a pretty telling figure: you either go mobile now or risk becoming dated and irrelevant in the very near future.
For most businesses, developing a smartphone app is the most obvious next step in their multichannel marketing strategies. Apps are relatively easy to develop and the costs can be scaled depending on the functionality you want. Having an app in a user's phone means that your business gets constant exposure, increasing your chances at pushing them down your sales funnel and scoring repeated conversions.
Or at least that's the idea.
The reality is that Apple, Google and Microsoft's App marketplaces are getting more crowded every day. With so many options and such limited space on users' phones, an app really has to stand out to create a viable install base. If the app isn't picked up by enough people, the investments go to waste and the entire mobile marketing strategy is compromised.
So this begs the question: Does your business really need a mobile app? We've put together a list of guide questions that will help you answer this very important question:
1. Do you have a target audience that embraces mobile?
Before you commission a team to start developing a mobile app, you have to check two things:
- Has your audience adapted to mobile Internet use?
- Can your desired functionality be supported on mobile devices?
If the answer to both questions is yes, go right ahead and develop the app. If the answer is no, it's not a deal breaker. Your audience and the functionality they need will eventually be right for smartphones. You will just need to set the right expectations and view the app as an investment for the future.
2. What is your app's inherent value?
If you are developing an app, there has to be an inherent value that will compel your target audience to download it. Apps should not be mirror images of business websites. If you wanted just that, you should just make your site mobile friendly and do not bother with an app at all. Winning business apps take advantage of features unique to smartphones, creating unique value in the process wile distinguishing themselves from their parent websites.
Here are some examples of app features and functions that can give it the kind of value that your audience will find attractive:
- Easy product image sharing
- GPS-based store finding
- Instant customer recognition when the person walks into your shop
- Sale and coupon notifications when an app user gets within a certain radius of your shop
- Automatic discounts and perks for customers with high degrees of social influence
- Customized ecommerce shopping experiences
- Biometric feedback as a customer sees your products for the first time and after he or she purchases it
These are all functionalities that cannot be found on most traditional websites. You can get creative and develop new ones that are based on smartphone components such as cameras, gyroscope, location tracking, biometrics, etc.
3. What kind of presence do you have on social media?
If there is a trend that is growing as rapidly as mobile Internet use, it's the social media explosion. These two trends go hand in hand as social media channel usage is very high on mobile devices today. Before developing your app, make sure that you have a clear vision of how your social media channels can be leveraged to grow your app's install base. You also need to clearly define what your social media accounts do and how they differ from your mobile app's functionalities.
4. What are your competitors doing?
It is usually a good idea to check what you will be swimming with when you jump into a body of water. The same is true about entering your industry's mobile app marketplace. Find out which competitors already have apps and do an analysis of what they are doing, how much success they are having with it and how you can one-up them.
Conversely, if you don't see competitors offering apps, that is not a reason to delay or stop your entry into the mobile arena. View it as an opportunity to beat everyone to the punch and be the first to have first-hand data on how your market behaves within the mobile marketing space. This will allow you to stay ahead and gain traction while the competition scrambles to get its mobile act together.
5. Do you sell online?
Smartphone users are increasingly starting to see the value of being able to make online purchases on the go. If you are running an e-commerce website, that's a good thing. You just need to make sure that the mobile traffic carrying buying intent doesn't end up on webpages that don't scale down or adapt themselves to their screen sizes.
You can compensate for this with responsive webpage design or mobile-friendly counterpart pages. However, there's a risk that the layouts and the overall navigation experiences might not be as smooth as you want them to be. Having an app grants you more flexibility in the kind of user experience that you want to deliver. Whether you are developing apps natively or you are using HTML5 wrapped in shell apps, you will have total control of the buying experience.
Having an ecommerce app also acts as a form of advertising within a user's phone. This is because it is constantly there, its icon remains visible and serves as a reminder that your store is always open and is just a few taps away.
6. Can you support the app in the long run?
A lot of businesses commit to building an app but not all of them commit to maintaining it. Apps need to be updated regularly to fix bugs, improve the interface and add new functionalities. If you are in the planning stages of creating a business app, make sure that you have sufficient human and time resources to evolve and maintain your app over time.
Updating apps involves the analysis of user behaviour within the app, listening to feedback from your community and constantly thinking of ways to improve your creation. You have to allocate time and budget for these activities or rethink your idea of launching a mobile application.
Final Thought
In the end, building a mobile app is a worthwhile venture that can yield massive returns. If you want to get with the times, it's a safe bet for you to look into developing one to extend your foothold into marketing's fastest-growing landscape.
Want to learn more?
If you're interested in the managerial and strategic aspects of UX, then consider to take the online course on UX Management and Strategy. If, on the other hand, you want to brush up on the basics of UX and Usability, then consider to take the online course on User Experience (or another design topic). Good luck on your learning journey!
(Lead image: Depositphotos)


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About us. S. B. Carpentry contractor has Over 40 years experience in the residential Construction business. We are a full-service building and remodeling company located in Chalfont Pennsylvania. We can assist you with every detail for your upcoming Home improvement projects. Kitchen and bathroom renovations. Additions and garages large or small. If design build is what you need we are here for you with unique design ideas that will fit beautifully with the architectural style of your home. Or if you are looking for a bid on another design or set of plans you already have we would be happy to help you with that as well. Some of our older clients that have decided to stay in their homes have had us complete wheelchair accessible or ADA compliant master bedroom suites with easy access bathrooms. We are also happy to help our clients with small handyman type projects. If you need crown molding installed in a room or would like to have a room painted we can help you with that as well.
At S. B. Carpentry contractor let our years of experience and professionalism turn your house into your dream home. We only use long-lasting high-quality products to make your home so beautiful and comfortable you and your guests may never want to leave. So today please contact us and join the many long-standing clients that rely on the long list of Home improvement services provided by S. B. Carpentry contractor.


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2.5 Working with Windows
A window manager program helps you control windows. This section explains how mwm manages windows. Other window managers do the same kinds of things - but with some variation. Let's start by looking at Figure 2.4 , a typical window under mwm .
The top part of every window has a titlebar with the title of the window and three buttons. The edges of the window can be used to resize the window. (See the Note in "Resizing Windows," later in this chapter.)
2.5.1 Using the Titlebar
The top part of a window has three buttons (see Figure 2.4 ).
The two buttons at the top right corner have boxes inside them. Clicking the button with the small box makes the window as small as possible; the window turns into an icon . "Iconifying" puts unneeded windows out of the way without quitting the program inside them; it also keeps you from accidentally typing into a window. (Figure 2.1 shows an icon.) The button with the big square maximizes a window. That makes it as big as the client will allow, often as big as the screen.
Figure 2.4: A window running with the Motif Window Manager
The left button opens the window menu; this is explained in "The Window Menu" section later in this chapter.
2.5.2 Moving Windows and Icons
To move a window, start by pointing to the titlebar. To move an icon, point to it. Hold down the first mouse button and drag to the new location - then let go of the button. You can also start the move from the window menu (see the following section on the window menu), but we think this way is easier.
2.5.3 Resizing Windows
If you have the pointer inside a window and then move the pointer to an edge, the pointer will change to an arrow shape. The arrow points the direction that you can resize the window. If you pointed to one of the corners, you can resize both sides that meet at the corner. To resize when you have the arrow pointer, press and hold the first button, then drag the window border until the window size is what you want and release the button. If you don't get quite the size you want, just do it again.
2.5.4 The Window Menu
Under mwm , each window can be controlled by its own window menu . There are lots of ways to get a window menu. Here are two: click on the menu button at the top left corner of a frame (Figure 2.4 ), or click on an icon. Figure 2.5 shows a window menu. When the menu pops up, you can point to one of the items and click it:
Figure 2.5: The mwm window menu
On the menu, a keyboard shortcut follows each command. You don't have to use the mouse to choose commands. For example, to Minimize (iconify) a window, hold down the [ALT] (or [META] key and press the [F9] key. The shortcut for bringing up the window menu (and taking it away) is to hold the [SHIFT] key and press the [ESC] (ESCAPE) key. If your keyboard doesn't have all of those keys, the menu can be customized to use different keys. O'Reilly & Associates' X Window System User's Guide, Volume 3M , explains how.
188.8.131.52 Exercise


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Interactive Retail Resources
Retailers only have 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. That's why more brands are attempting to inspire holiday browsing and buying earlier than ever.
But as the countdown clock ticks away, retailers must be agile in their engagement tactics, and respond swiftly to customer behaviors.
Download this tactical guide to learn how you can make agility a powerful strategy for your brand this holiday season.


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Cross-channel marketing with SMS
ZALORA is Asia's leading online fashion destination. Founded in early 2012, ZALORA is the largest and fastest-growing fashion-focused e-commerce site in Southeast Asia, operating in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia & Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
ZALORA offers an extensive collection of over 500 top international and local brands and designers, and customers can shop from thousands of products across men's and women's fashion apparel, shoes, accessories, and beauty categories online.
In an era where customers increasingly want to communicate with brands via mobile, ZALORA has become a success story for omnichannel marketing and has found that SMS is a key component of cross-channel marketing. Using Telerivet, ZALORA has been able to consistently achieve a 10x return on investment from their SMS marketing campaigns.
Cross-channel marketing with SMS
In order to encourage repeat sales and build brand loyalty, ZALORA needed a flexible SMS platform to enable their marketing team to send campaigns to targeted segments of their customer base. At the same time, ZALORA also needed an SMS platform that could scale to millions of customers.
Since 2015, ZALORA has been using Telerivet as their marketing SMS platform. ZALORA uses Telerivet's web interface to create filters and dynamic groups matching targeted subsets of their customer base, which are then sent scheduled SMS messages. These messages contain codes that enable the customers to redeem special discounts on ZALORA's website. For example, ZALORA uses Telerivet to automatically send discount codes on customers' birthdays.
Using Telerivet's built-in integration with Vonage, ZALORA sends SMS from Telerivet using their own Vonage account, using the alphanumeric sender ID "ZALORA" to identify themselves to customers.
The advanced features of Telerivet's platform enable ZALORA to conduct SMS marketing campaigns with maximum efficiency. Telerivet's REST API enables ZALORA to conveniently upload contact information directly from their backend systems. In the Telerivet web app, ZALORA creates dynamic groups for the segments their marketing team wants to target in a particular campaign. In addition, ZALORA uses custom data tables and Telerivet's Cloud Script API to manage discount codes and insert the correct discount code into each message.


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Recent Articles
Best of John Grochowski
Gaming Guru
Banned and mini-baccarat31 July 2016
A guy I work with likes to talk, and he said he was barred from playing craps by a casino in Nevada. Is that even possible? I've heard of blackjack card counters being barred, but I didn't think it happened in other games.
ANSWER: Yes, skillful craps players have been barred in some casinos. So have video poker players and even slot players.
The pressure point comes when the casino operators think you're skilled enough to have an edge and beat them consistently.
Some casinos are more tolerant of skilled play than others and will ignore skilled play at low betting limits. A low-limit player who consistently wins small amounts can be good PR for the casino, spreading the word to friends and relatives. Besides, if you bar a low-limit card counter, you might also lost the business of a slot-playing spouse.
Others will bar any advantage player they spot. I've heard of a casino barring a blackjack player with a base bet of $5 a hand and spreading up to only $15 a hand.
The craps players I've heard of being barred were thought to be dice controllers who could increase the proportion of point numbers and decrease the proportion of 7s to get a mathematical edge.
In video poker, a combination of skilled play at high-paying games with concentrating play on multiple-point days or other promotional periods seems to be another.
The slot players I heard of being banned were in the early 2000s, and they were taking advantage of banked bonuses. Players would collect icons during play. Advantage players knew they had the edge if another player left behind a game with some of the icons already collected. They'd step in if someone else had left enough coins in the bank in Piggy Bankin', enough stamps in the book in S&H Green Stamps, or enough daggers in the pirate ship rail in Buccaneer Gold.
None of this is illegal. Like card counting, it's just skillful play. However, courts have repeatedly held that casinos may bar skillful players. Some swing a mighty ban hammer, barring players with a tiny edge at low limits.
QUESTION: Baccarat is supposed to have such a low house edge, but when I get in a bad streak, it just kills me. At a $10 table, betting the minimum, I buy in for $100, and I'm reaching for the second $100 before I know it. At blackjack, it seems my money goes farther. At least, that second $100 rarely has to come out as fast as it does in baccarat.
ANSWER: If you're playing for $10 a hand, it's most likely a mini-baccarat table. That's a very fast-moving game. Only two hands are dealt – a player hand and a banker hand – and all decisions are automatic. The dealer completes the hands rapidly.
In blackjack, the dealer has to wait for players to make strategy decisions. Decisions on whether to double down or split pairs also can slow down the game.
The result is that a full seven-player blackjack table moves at between 50 and 60 hands per hour. Even a full mini-baccarat table can move at more than 200 hands per hour.
Baccarat house edges of 1.06% on banker and 1.24% on player are low, but the speed of the game can be hazardous to your bankroll.
This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Recent Articles
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John Grochowski
John Grochowski


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Arsene Wenger has dismissed fears that goal-line technology will slow the game down.
The Premier League announced on Thursday that the Hawk-Eye video system will be in place for the start of the 2013/14 campaign.
The news has split opinion, but Wenger insists it will not have a negative impact on the natural flow of top-flight matches.
"When a referee speaks to a player for two minutes and says, 'be careful because if you come back and make a bad tackle I'll be in a position to give you a yellow card' and doesn't do anything else, you can argue it slows the game down," he said.
"When a goalkeeper takes a minute over a goal kick, you could argue it slows the game down. I don't believe [technology] would slow the game down at all if it is done in the right way.
"There are a lot of things to work out because if you look at goal-line technology, it took them two years to get it right. I'm amazed we are resistant on the principle of moving forward for more justice in our sport.
"If it was to sell more publicity [or] if it was for financial reasons then I don't agree with it. But if it is to get more decisions right then we all have to fight for it."
Copyright 2023 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.


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- From: James Elmore <firstname.lastname@example.com>
- Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:48:12 -0700
- To: firstname.lastname@example.com
Rationale: A general rule in CSS is 'the display should be drawn in order as elements are read from the HTML file'. The <table> element breaks this rule by allowing elements later in the file to control the sizes of earlier elements. This is to allow all data cells (<td> or <th> elements) in a row or column to have the same size; otherwise it would not be a table. Unfortunately for UA developers and CSS specification writers, this ability (to let possible later elements control the size of earlier elements) is very useful to designers of web sites. It has been used (and often overused) since the <table> element was first defined. It also requires that designers use 'table' elements, even when all they want is to control the sizes of a set of elements. This situation, however, does require that designers use table elements, even when all they want is automatic control of block sizes. Table elements require (at a minimum) row and data cell elements, which HTML provides automatically if the user does not supply them. This means that at least three extra layers of elements (table, tr, and td / th) are required, even if all the designer wants is to make a few blocks the same size automatically. This is unnecessary complexity for the user, for the HTML programmer, and for the UA (HTML and CSS renderer). Table elements do provide other abilities, such as simple captioning, border overlapping, and vertical and horizontal alignment of elements in table data cells. If the designer wants or needs these other features, using tables as layout controls can make them available. If the designer does not want these other features, the extra effort for designers as well as the extra work the UA has to perform to display the features, even if the designer turns them off, make tables an unpleasant, but only alternative to forcing element sizes manually by the designer. Proposal: I propose that a new feature be added to CSS that allows users to let CSS automatically adjust block sizes of a group of elements. This would work similarly to table rows or columns, but would not require that the elements be part of some other HTML elements (as tables do). All that is necessary is for the designer to declare a group of elements and specify that CSS needs to size them automatically. Width and height should be separately controllable styles. There is no requirement that the blocks be in the same row or column, only that CSS must be able to find all the elements in the block set and determine sizes for each. This feature could greatly simplify many web site layouts, if applied. As well, it would provide new abilities not currently available, such as letting elements in different parts of a web page (not in the same row or column) match sizes. To guarantee that CSS finds all elements in a block set (so it can determine the sizes), all the elements to be sized should be in the same class and should be within a single named (#id) block element. The smaller the element, and the fewer elements contained within it, the faster CSS can determine the sizes and complete the display. (It is possible that designers may abuse this feature by providing an #id for the <body> element and making CSS scan the entire body. This should be discouraged, but probably can't be eliminated.) If one or more members of the class are not within the named parent block, they may be sized without their own sizes being considered. According to the CSS 2.1 specification (http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/tables.html#auto-table-layout), the only requirements for automatic table layout are: the size of the parent block must be known, and the sizes of the child elements (which are to be sized) must be able to be determined. These requirements are met by declaring the parent (by #id) and the child blocks (by .class id). Right now, the only size adjustments I can foresee are setting the sized block elements to their minimum common size or to their maximum common size. Possibly, an average value (to set blocks to the average size between their minimum and maximum sizes) might be added in the future, but I have no details to propose how that might work. The minimum size would be the smallest measurement (width or height, depending on which is being set) of the largest member of the set. For example, if all the elements have 'min-width' values set, select the largest. If some do not have their min-width specified, determine those intrinsic widths and select the largest out of the group of min-widths and intrinsic widths. If the calculated minimum width would cause all the displayed elements to exceed the parent's size, they may either be reduced (if the elements are scalable) or the UA may provide some way to view the elements within the parent (such as scroll bars). Similar rules apply for minimum height. The maximum size would be the largest measurement (again, either width or height) of the set. Use the suggested maximum measurement (max-height or max-width) or the intrinsic measurement (the actual height or width) of each element and make them all match the largest. If the calculated maximum measurement (width or height) would cause all the displayed element to exceed the size of the containing parent, they may be scaled (if scalable) or the UA may provide some means of viewing elements which will not fit, such as scroll bars. To ensure that the block set does, in fact, meet the two requirements listed above (known parent and known children), I propose the following: .block_set_1_group { height: max(#parent_1_id); } .block_set_2_group { width: min(#parent_2_id); } The 'max()' and 'min()' functions would find all children with the given class inside the parent with the given id and calculate the minimum or maximum sizes of their heights or widths using the rules listed above, then set the height / width of each of those elements to the calculated size. -- James Elmore
Received on Monday, 9 July 2007 17:48:25 UTC


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by Jennifer Poindexter
Do you raise many vegetables in your garden?
Have you noticed there's an overlap in diseases between some of your vegetable plants? I'm going to bring you a list of some of the most common diseases which frequent veggie gardens.
I'll also share what you can do to stay ahead of those problems. By being alert to possible issues, you stand a greater chance at saving your harvest if or when disaster strikes.
Here are the common diseases you should be aware of when raising vegetables in the garden.
1. Bacterial Leaf Spot
As the name might have suggested, bacterial leaf spot is formed by small bacteria which infiltrate the foliage of your plant.
It causes spots on the leaves which, in milder scenarios, causes discoloration. In more extreme cases it can cause death to the leaves.
This disease spreads in cold or wet conditions. If you water overhead and soil splashes on the leaves, it can splash the bacteria in the soil onto the plant spreading it to the leaves.
If you don't clean your garden out over the winter, the bacteria can overwinter in any weeds or plants left in your garden.
When something new is planted in your garden, the following year, this can bring the issue to light again.
Preventing this disease requires a few simple solutions. First, try to water your plants from beneath to avoid splashing soil on them.
You should also try to water earlier in the day. This way, if any bacteria from the soil does splash onto your plant, you aren't also providing a wonderful breeding ground.
By watering early, it allows your plants to dry out before the cool night air hits. If you water later in the day, you're providing both moisture and cool temperatures which causes the bacteria to spread.
Make sure you clean out your garden each year. Don't leave any remaining weeds or dead plants in the grow space, as this serves as a home for many pests and diseases.
Finally, if you have bacterial leaf spot growing on your plant, treat it with a fungicide. This should offer the greatest chance at saving your plants from this disease. Then follow the steps to prevent further spread of this disease in your vegetable garden.
2. Rust
The name rust gives an accurate description of what this disease looks like. It will cause discoloration in the foliage of your plant to where it looks as though rust is growing on it.
This is a fungal disease which spreads by wind in wet conditions. The spores will land on the foliage of plants and begin breeding.
Some of the vegetables most commonly impacted by this disease are eggplant, onions, okra, artichokes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, beans, peas, and corn.
The best way to stay ahead of rust is to plan ahead. This begins when planting your crops. Ensure you practice proper thinning techniques to avoid overcrowding.
By planting with proper spacing, you increase airflow around your crops. Better airflow lessens moisture being held within the plant and makes your plant less of an appropriate breeding ground for the disease.
You should also try to water plants from beneath or water earlier in the day. This provides an opportunity for plants to remain dry which, again, makes your plant less of a breeding ground for the disease.
Be sure to also practice good gardening maintenance. Clean up the garden area, at the end of each grow season, to reduce ways for diseases to hide in your garden over the winter.
If your plants have become infected by rust, begin treatment by removing any damaged foliage. Treat the rest of the plant with a fungicide that states it's meant to treat rust. Then follow the above preventative steps to reduce the chances of another outbreak.
3. Downy Mildew
Downy mildew is also a fungal disease. Like most fungal diseases, downy mildew likes damp and cold conditions.
It's spread via the air and through water splashing soil onto plants, your hands, and your tools. The disease begins with leaf discoloration.
As it spreads, downy mildew will eventually form grey hair that will invade your plant and kill off the leaves.
Downy mildew can be prevented by watering your plants from beneath via soaker hoses. You can also water earlier in the day, to give the plants time to dry, prior to the temperatures dropping at night.
You should also wash your hands and gardening tools anytime you deal with plants that look diseased. Any diseased plants should be pulled up and destroyed to avoid further spread.
If you catch downy mildew early, it can be treated with a fungicide. You may also choose to plant specific varieties of your desired crops that are disease-resistant to stand a greater chance at avoiding this disease all together.
4. Early or Late Blight
Blight impacts a variety of vegetables but is most commonly seen in tomatoes, eggplant, and potatoes. Early blight appears as dark spots around the soil level of the plant. Late blight appears as dark spots on the stem and climbing up towards the foliage of the plant.
This disease can live in the soil over the winter and is most frequently transmitted to the plants during watering, when the soil is splashed onto the plant.
To deter blight from visiting your crops, try to clean-up your garden at the end of each season. Dead plants and weeds are great ways to attract all the wrong attention from pests and diseases.
Try to water your plants at soil-level via soaker hoses or at least water earlier in the day to provide ample time for the plants to dry before night temperatures roll in.
If early or late blight have infested your plant, treat immediately with a fungicide. You may need to treat more frequently to keep the disease under control.
When a plant seems too far gone to save, remove and destroy it to stop the spread to other nearby plants.
5. Corn Smut
Corn smut is an interesting disease which can form in your garden. This disease can ravage your corn harvest, but in some cultures, it isn't considered a negative to raising corn.
In fact, it's considered a delicacy and is eaten as a filling in quesadillas. Though this fungus is edible, it's hard to miss because of its unique appearance.
The downside to corn smut in your corn harvest is it can lessen your harvest. This disease causes large growths on any part of the corn plant above the ground.
It can overwinter in the soil and is spread via wind and water. Though, it seems to thrive in dry and hot conditions.
Corn smut is difficult to get rid of because it can live in the soil for up to seven years. It infects plants by taking advantage of any damage which may have previously come to it. Corn smut literally sees an opening and takes it.
To avoid corn smut, begin by planting disease-resistant varieties. Try to avoid any damage to your corn crop.
For instance, if you have a pest problem, treat it at the first signs with an insecticide to reduce openings for the fungus to enter the corn.
When fertilizing, use a balanced fertilizer. Too much nitrogen seems to boost this disease. If some of your crops are infected by corn smut, remove and destroy them immediately to avoid further spread.
6. Clubroot
Clubroot disease thrives in acidic soil. It's a fungal disease which is known for attacking brassica crops. The crops most frequently impacted include broccoli, turnips, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and radishes.
This disease is usually spotted when the plants appear inhibited. After greater research, the gardener might pull up the plant and notice the crop's bulky roots. This is a sure sign that your garden has clubroot.
The best way to prevent clubroot disease is to raise the pH of your soil. The pH should be no less than 7.0 but can be as high as 8.0.
You can increase your soil's pH by adding lime to your garden area. Use a soil testing kit to make sure you have the soil at an appropriate level. If clubroot is in your soil, it can live there for as long as two decades.
If your plants are impacted by clubroot disease, they should be removed completely. This includes removing every part of their root system as the disease will continue to spread if left in place.
Be sure to sterilize any garden equipment you use to remove infected plants.
7. Blossom End Rot
My first year raising tomatoes I encountered this disease. I was heartbroken at first because my tomato plants looked great but when they began to produce, the tomatoes had rotten bottoms.
I thought my crop was ruined. Imagine my surprise when I realized this disease is only a sign of a calcium deficiency and is quite easy to fix.
This disease appears most frequently in tomato and pepper plants. If you spot it in your garden, don't feel defeated because you can treat it quickly and still get a decent harvest with proper care of your plants.
Blossom end rot is a sign of low calcium in your soil. You can prevent it from occurring by sprinkling powdered milk around the base of your plants during planting.
If you skipped this step, or like I was, are new to gardening and didn't know this disease even existed, it's not too late.
At the first sign of blossom end rot, sprinkle powdered milk around the base of your plants. It's cost-efficient and should provide the necessary calcium to save your harvest.
8. Mosaic Virus
Mosaic virus is a disease you don't want to find in your garden. The reason being is the symptoms vary by plant and there isn't much you can do once it's there.
This is a viral disease which is commonly spread through crops by the gardener. You'll touch a plant, not knowing it's sick, and transfer it to another plant because most of us don't wash our hands with soap and water between touching our garden plants.
Mosaic virus most commonly impacts beans, corn, celery, cucumbers, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes.
It can live in the soil for up to two years and some of the symptoms of this disease include curled foliage, stunted growth, and a reduced harvest.
However, the symptoms of this disease can vary by plant. Some plants infected with mosaic virus may display symptoms which lead gardeners to think it's another virus completely.
If you find out you do have mosaic virus in your soil and impacting your plants, your first step should be to remove and destroy any infected plants.
Your next step should be to sanitize everything which came in contact with the infected plants. This includes your hands, clothing, gardening tools, and even stakes which may have supported the plants.
There's no chemical treatment for this disease. To avoid the disease moving forward, plant disease-resistant varieties.
9. Verticillium Wilt
Verticillium wilt is a distressing disease to hit your garden. Its symptoms include curled foliage which give way to discoloration and wilting. Finally, it can lead to the death of your plant.
This disease is a fungus which infiltrates your plant through the soil. It travels through the plant's system and eventually kills it.
The plants which are most commonly impacted by this disease are tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, cucumbers, and pumpkins.
If your plants have been impacted by verticillium wilt there's nothing to do but remove and destroy them.
Once destroyed, you aren't in the clear. You have two options. The first is to plant vegetables which are resistant to this disease.
The other option is to kill the fungus in the soil via solarization. You'll need to till up the top six inches of soil in your garden area.
Wet the area down with a garden hose and cover it with plastic. Secure the plastic and leave it for at least a month.
During the month, you'll need warm temperatures and sunshine to heat the soil enough to kill the fungus living in it. At the end of the month, you should have healthy garden soil to try planting again.
10. Damping Off
Damping off is a fungal disease which most commonly impacts young seedlings. It's when the stems and roots of the seedlings rot.
This fungus thrives in colder and damp environments. It's important to follow the steps provided below to give your seedlings the best chance at avoiding this disease.
Once your seedlings have contracted this disease, there's no reversing it. Your best bet is to avoid it all together.
You should begin by sanitizing your soil. This will remove any hidden diseases in the soil prior to planting in them.
Do the same with any pots or trays you may be starting seeds in. Be mindful, when starting seeds, to start them at the appropriate depth. If planted too deeply, you'll overwork them during the germination process. This will put stress on the plant and make it more susceptible to disease.
Also, consider proper spacing during planting. Adequate space will increase airflow around the plant.
It's wise to water your seedlings from beneath. Set your grow tray or pots in a dish of water. This allows the roots to absorb water without making the seedlings wet.
Provide a grow area with plenty of heat and lighting as well. This is the opposite of what the disease prefers for a breeding ground.
Finally, you can use a natural fungicide to help keep this disease at bay. When your seedlings begin to form, sprinkle a layer of cinnamon on the soil to fight off any unwanted diseases.
This concludes our tour around the vegetable garden of some of the most common diseases you may encounter.
You now know what to look for and how to prevent or treat these diseases. Hopefully this will help your vegetable garden to prosper under your care.


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NECA: Universal Monsters - Ultimate Dracula (Carfax Abbey) 7" Tall Action Figure
Sale Sold out
Regular price $49.00 CAD
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NECA announces a new Ultimate action figure of the most famous vampire of them all… Dracula! Following the color version, we've created a special black-and-white figure that features the formal tuxedo seen at his Carfax estate. We worked closely with the estate of Bela Lugosi to capture the actor's expressive likeness and for additional background detail on important costume elements. Standing in 7" scale, the Ultimate Dracula (Carfax Abbey) action figure has a removable soft goods cape and comes with plenty of accessories: top hat, cane, bat, flight stand, plus three interchangeable heads and hands. Includes additional neck piece making it compatible with the heads from the color version. Display-friendly window box packaging with opening front flap.


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Festivals are a highlight of the summer and each year millions of people flock to the fields for a weekend of live acts.
But it isn't just about the music - there's also activities, fairs and food to enjoy.
You may be surprised to know that many of them are family friendly with children's sections for the little ones.
If you are a veteran reveller or a first timer here are the festival highlights of this year.
When: Wednesday, June 21 - Sunday, June 25
The now iconic festival is back again for another year - Glastonbury is a firm favourite among celebrities with Kate Moss and Alexa Chung leading the pack of famous faces. Last year it was confirmed Radiohead will be headlining. It's rumoured Ed Sheeran is set to perform although nothing has been confimed.
Tickets for the festival went on sale in October and sold out like wild fire, despite the fact it doesn't take place until June.
Isle of Wight
When: Thursday, June 8 - Sunday, June 11
Arcade Fire, Rod Stewart, David Guetta and Run DMC have all been announced to perform this year.
The Isle of Wight festival started in 1968 and has gone on to be a big attraction for the island - bringing in music lovers and party animals each summer.
You have the option of going for the day or for the weekend and you can even take your own campervan.
Weekend and day tickets are on sale now.
V Festival
When: Saturday, August 26 - Sunday, August 28
V Festival is one of the more mainstream of the festivals. If you've never been to a festival but you're interested in going this is a great one to get you started because it isn't too hardcore. You can camp for two days or there is also the option to buy day tickets.
It is held across two stately parks for a weekend- the two events run parallel to one another with one held in Staffordshire and the other in Essex.
This year's line-up hasn't been announced but last year Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Sia performed.
Tickets are not on sale yet but when they are, they will be available here . V Festival tickets usually go on sale in the late spring.
Boomtown Fair
When: Thursday, August 10 - Sunday, August 13
The Boomtown Fair is a playground for all generations, with three of the four main areas: Hilltop, Whistlers Green and Temple Valley suitable for families. There is also Kidztown which has activities, workshops and music for children.
The festival is spilt into 'towns' - a themed area showcasing live music from specific genres including reggae, drum and bass, gypsy fusion and blues.
Reading and Leeds
When: Friday, August 25 - Sunday, August 27
Reading and Leeds festivals are two events held simultaneously - one in the south of England at Little John's Farm in Reading and the other in Leeds at Bramham Park.
It originally started as a jazz and blues festival in the 1950s before transforming into a celebration of rock music in the 70s.
This year Major Lazer and hip hop artist Tory Lanez will be performing. Muse and Bastille are headlining and tickets are now on sale .
When: Friday, 14 July - Saturday, 15 July
Set in East London's Victoria Park, Lovebox celebrates the best of British and international music talent, dance and the arts.
The music event began as an album recorded by electronic music duo Groove Armada, it then went on to be a string of successful club nights before becoming the festival we now know.
This year Frank Ocean is the main act - buy tickets here
When: Thursday, August 24 - Sunday, August 27
The organisers of Creamfields describe it as 'the world's leading dance music festival'. It first began life in Winchester, Hampshire in 1998 but is now in Daresbury, Cheshire.
DJs Deadmau5 and Eric Prydz will be joining forces to perform at this year's event- it will be the first time both the acts play together in the UK.
You can pay for 2017 tickets in full or use the Creamfields deposit scheme . This means you pay £20 to secure your ticket and then the remaining cost is due every month. Tickets are on sale now.
When: Thursday, June 13th - Sunday, June 16th
Held in Hemham Park in Suffolk, Latitude is all about music, theatre, dance, film, cabaret and literature. It is a family friendly festival and won the Family Day Out award in 2015.
Last year The Maccabees and New Order headlined. Tickets for 2017 are now on sale . There is also the option to pay in installments.


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Which each Distro ART you support the development of RISC OS (more Apps, improved apps, better handling, more drivers, more hardware) with 50 Euro / 55 USD / £43 .
The Cloverleaf RISC OS distro includes a comprehensive list of programs from word processing, spreadsheet, organiser, games, emulators and programming languages (BBC BASIC, C++ (GCC), Python, Lua) . Our distro will include always the newest modules and extension to give the user the best or most progressive version of RISC OS. Easy handling and best performance is our goal.
The Cloverleaf distro is built on RISC OS version 5.29.
The content of the distro will be updated during the year of 2022 and you will receive updates by email.
Requirements: To run RISC OS you need a Raspberry Pi Zero, 2, 3, 4 or 400 or an RISC OS emulator RPCEmu / VirtualRPC for Windows/Linux/macOS
The Cloverleaf Distro STANDARD include following commercial programs:
- !Artworks (Vector graphics design software)
- !Fireworkz Pro (Text and Spreadsheet)
- !DataPower Home (Database)
- !SafeStore (Backup system)
- !Clovertool (Utility for keyboard, monitor, network, lock screen)
- !PDFMaker
- !SparkFS (full version, read/write ZIP, Tar & Archive compressed files)
- !NetPrintDrivers
- !MessengerPro (Mail client)
Free software:
- !ChatCube (RISC OS Chatprogram with additional client for Telegram)
- !Pipedream (Text and spreadsheet office software)
- !Organiser (Adress book, Calender, Tasks and Notes)
- !RiscPCB (PCB layout program)
- !Impression Style DTP program
- BBC BASIC, Phython 3, GCC 4.7, GCC 10.2, RiscLua, Charm
- Emulators for Acorn Archimedes, Acorn BBC Micro, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore C64 and many more
- !Doom (3D shooter, high-res version with 40 levels (10 shareware and 30 freeware levels)
- Game engines of ScummVM and ResidualVM, OpenTTD, Z-machine & Maze
- All Acorn Archimedes games from ADFFS
- Sample issues of the RISC OS magazines Archive, Drag&Drop, GAG News, Asterix of BigBen Club
- All issues of RISC OS Retro magazines EUREKA and Foundation RISC User
- and many other programs
Coming soon:
- !Desktop (Handling improvements, Themes including Darkmode support in about November 2021)
- !ArtCube Light (when it is released to public. First version expected in December 2021
License will be for two personal RISC OS systems.
Downloads are available as 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB SD card image or as Zip-file. Compressed these files are between 2 GB to 8 GB size.
We are not responsible for any data loss using RISC OS and any application included in the Cloverleaf Distro.
Refund is not possible.


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By Paul F. deLespinasse
Thursday, 26 May 2022 08:41 AM EDT
Current | Bio | Archive
President Biden is pondering whether to forgive unmanageable debts owed to the government by students who used them to finance higher education.
It is unclear what Biden should do about these past loans. But it is obvious what needs to be done about the future: the government should discontinue making additional student loans.
Although these loans helped some people, they have greatly damaged many others. They encouraged recipients to dig themselves into financial holes. These unfortunates cannot buy houses or do many other things traditionally done by young adults.
As the saying goes, when people are digging themselves into holes, first they should stop digging.
The loan programs were well-meant, but in addition to harming many of their "beneficiaries" they have caused an incredible increase in the cost of higher education.
When I was an undergraduate at Willamette University in 1960 the tuition at this excellent private school was $600 a year. There has been a lot of inflation since then, but $600 in 1960 would only be $5680 in 2022 dollars. Tuition at Willamette today is $43,500.
As recently as 1973 undergraduate tuition at Oregon State University, a public institution, was $536 ($3490 in 2022 dollars) for in-state students. Today it is $12,188 for in-state students and $31,579 for out-of-state students.
In 1963 one of my students wrote a paper criticizing proposals to finance college studies with loans, just an idea back then. He feared that debt would reduce the "marital attractiveness" of young women.
But debt wasn't needed to finance college then. Most students could earn enough in part-time and summer jobs to finance their studies, perhaps with modest family assistance. At today's tuition levels this is impossible.
Probably a major reason state governments have greatly reduced taxpayer support for public universities is that loans enabled students to pay much higher tuition. Private colleges were able to jack up tuition for the same reason.
Although I enjoyed college teaching, I'm glad that I retired 22 years ago. It seems to me that higher education is evolving into a system in which both students and faculty are increasingly exploited for the benefit of administrative empire-builders.
More and more college teaching is handled by poorly paid part-timers. Tenure track professorships are becoming rarer.
And too many students, living on borrowed money, are partying too much and generally living high on the hog. When we had to pay tuition and living expenses with real money, we were more careful with our spending. I thought twice before buying a Coke once or twice a month.
It is not in the general interest for government to encourage these developments, which continuing its student loan programs would do.
Many loan recipients never graduated. And even many graduates are finding it harder to secure employment drawing on what they learned in college, which makes college a more dubious economic investment and complicates repaying their loans.
On the PBS News Hour experts recently argued that the student loan program should be reformed. But it is the very existence of these programs that has caused the problems leading these experts to call for reforms. It would make more sense to wipe the federal loan programs out completely.
Students for whom higher education is still a good economic investment would be able to borrow from private banks. Those for whom higher education would be too risky for a bank loan would do better to consider apprenticeship programs, special training programs, or on-the-job training. They could then start adult life without debt.
Some of the federal money no longer needed for loan programs could allow greater support for practical education in local community colleges.
And maybe higher education could figure out how to kick out the overpaid administrative racketeers, cut out the frills, and cut tuition back to a reasonable level. There's always hope!
Paul F. deLespinasse is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Computer Science at Adrian College. Read Professor Paul F. deLespinasse's Reports — More Here.
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January 26, 2008
Call to Arms Deployment Cards
Richard Borg shares some thoughts about the design philosophy behind the Call to Arms Deployment card sets, and some favourite alternate ways his gaming group uses the cards.
« December 2007 | Main | February 2008 »
Richard Borg shares some thoughts about the design philosophy behind the Call to Arms Deployment card sets, and some favourite alternate ways his gaming group uses the cards.
The BattleLore rules summary has been updated to v2.1. Some corrections and suggestions by Gerald Uitz have resulted in a more accurate document. There's a double-sided basic rules summary, then single-sided summaries of the Epic and Call to Arms rules, then a page of game variants, including Reluctant Allies and Medieval Lore rules.
Not only that, but Gerald has also translated this latest version into German.
As always, print in colour on high quality card, laminate and trim for best results. And don't forget to print at the 100% setting.
Days of Wonder's News Centre Blog features a long post from Eric Hautemont, DOW's CEO. It's an interesting insight into the challenges faced by Days of Wonder to guide BattleLore through its first year, and a small peek at what's coming in the future.
Some fans seemed to be getting a bit antsy about initial releases, the lack of communication lately, the Heroes pack not arriving by the expected late '07 date, and the fact that there is as yet no campaign background for the game.
Eric's post clears up some of the misconceptions, and also shows us that they are still very much taking on, and dealing with, retailer and customer feedback with the goal of making BattleLore the best game system it can be.
Let's all sit back a little and let Days of Wonder do what they do best—make great games. Certainly customer feedback is essential, but overly critical and non-constructive comments on forums such as BoardgameGeek don't do anyone any good. I think most fans would prefer that products took a little longer to release and were done right, rather than be rushed out with errors; and certainly very few of us fully understand all the issues involved with creating, producing and distributing modern boardgames.
And if mistakes do happen, DOW has always shown itself willing to correct them. The great thing is, DOW is the kind of company that isn't afraid to be totally honest with its customers about the challenges that crop up up when making their games.
Right, enough of that, let's get back to playing BattleLore!
We get a look at two brand new figures with the post—a female Sorceress and a mounted Thief. Part of the Heroes set?
A couple of other newsworthy items: more insight into the production process and a mention of possible army packs in the future in this post by Eric. And ColtsFan76 has hunted down some official responses to some questions that have been bothering BattleLore players.
"Mister, mister, please, help my sister, please help!"
I had been lost in my thoughts as I walked the road, and this small scruffy urchin managed to run up behind me and grab my cloak. Proof that the greatest could fall from one small lapse of concentration, I thought, as I shrugged him off. He was a persistent scrap however, and ran beside me with hands outstretched, pleading.
"Help me mister! The ugly troll's got her, he does! None from the village'll help her, they're all scared of 'im!"
I had no time for this. Without a word I turned and shoved the annoying little brat into a muddy ditch.
Ignoring his cries, I strode on, hoping to reach the next village by nightfall. The sky had already dimmed and the first stars appeared by the time I came upon a stone bridge across a wide stream; in the distance I could see the smoke from cooking fires. Half way across I felt a presence and turned, and there stood the boy again, leaning over the bridge wall and shouting down into the dark underneath:
"He's here Moon-Gnawer - I got you 'im! A man for my sister you said, a man to feed on!"
Instantly I was fully alert. A huge knobbled hand reached up and took purchase on the wall near me, then another. With startling speed the beast had dragged itself up over the side of the bridge and stood, nine feet tall, dripping wet, huge shoulders supporting powerfully muscled arms that ended in hands that scraped the ground. One held an enormous rusty meat cleaver.
The horrible face slit open and a voice like ancient rocks speaking said, "Little grey man, ye be my supper. Keep still while I chop ye!"
An interesting proposition, but I had no intention of complying. From the folds of my cloak I whipped out my long thin knife. Slish, slash, snicker, but the troll's hide was thick, and it was like trying to cut into ancient stone. This was a battle I could not win by force.
I drew my arms apart, palms upward. "Wait, Moon-Gnawer, am I not thin and stringy? Hardly fit for the pot, just bone and gristle!" It paused slightly, cleaver half-raised. "A hungry troll requires a man large and fat, juicy with easy living! I can get you such a tasty treat!"
"Speak, skinny one," it said slowly, head cocked.
"Behind me on the road I passed a fat tax-collector on a donkey, trying to reach the village before the fall of night. He has but one guard. Allow me to return and dispose of the guard with my long thin knife, and the fat man will be yours for the taking. Not to mention the gold he no doubt carries."
"Hmmm …" Was that slow grinding the sound of it thinking? "Very well, but be quick about it. I want my dinner."
"Excellent. I will return quickly with your delectable dish, bridgekeeper."
Turning tail, I fled back the way I had come, passing the wide-eyed guttersnipe. "But … my sister! He promised to free my sister if I brought him dinner."
"You'd best find another for his plate as I did, snot-nose." I shouted over my shoulder, still running. "I have a detour to make!"
The prodigious Gerald Uitz kicks off 2008 with a couple of updates: January editions of the English and German Lore Cards Compendiums.
Remember, for each new revision you now need only print and replace the revised index and pages with new entries.
As usual, go to the Guild Downloads section for the latest downloads.


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From time to time on the program we bring together some media watchers to share their thoughts on how major stories here and elsewhere have been handled by media, locally, nationally and worldwide. On this edition of Houston Matters, we hear the views of Houston media blogger Mike McGuff, Houston Chronicle Assistant City Editor Mike Snyder, and University of Houston Professor of Communications Garth Jowett. We also welcome your thoughts on the news coverage you see, hear, and read.
Then: In this major metropolitan area of ours, there are a lot of lights on at all hours. Not just in our homes but on our streets, glowing from traffic lights, businesses, car headlights, and more. Recently, News 88.7's Florian Martin was contacted by a Houstonian concerned LED bulbs being deployed for the city's street lights are too bright. Does this constitute light pollution? Is there a concern about how much light is too much for us, or for Houston's wildlife? And how much is that considered when new projects that will add more light to the darkness are developed? We ask architectural lighting designer Monte Riggs, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Lisa Reznicek.
Plus: Every year, millions of people around the world apply for visas to visit the United States. But experts say that process has become more difficult for some because of national security concerns. News 88.7's Syeda Hasan brings us the story of a terminally ill teenager in Houston who's struggling to reunite with her parents in Pakistan.
And: Houston Public Media's Ernie Manouse catches up with Jason Price, founder of Houston Whatever Fest, as he prepares for the two day music, comedy and art showcase at Warehouse Live.


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We all want to be ready. When the bell rings, when the driver pulls over, when a project is due. We want to be ready to go.
I've done a lot of preparing for the next big project in my life. I'm referring to the launch of my memoir: Anxious Mom, Anxious Child, A Mother's Journey from Anxiety to Serenity. From the early stages of defining the themes of my book to developing a story that was true to the essence of my message, working with a designer on the book cover and editing the manuscript. Then came the hardest part, sharing the draft with family and friends, and being willing to accept comments, and suggestions.
It takes an open mind and a willingness to learn something new. The process of writing a book is similar to the planning for a big celebration, like a wedding or a movie premiere. Some people compare it to giving birth, but I'm not sure that anything could compare to the miracle of bringing a child into this world.
What I'd say is this, if you are writing a book as personal as this book was for me, you have to dig deep. You have to go places that maybe you didn't want to go to uncover the truth.
For a minute or two you will face your fears. You'll become an expert at it. If you are lucky you'll find the strength to go there, to dive in. You'll swim among the sharks that sorround you. The fear that haunts you and want to see you tremble. Then you'll emerge strong, beautiful, and untouchable because you'll know that you've surpassed the test.
My book sample is here and it looks perfect. It launches officially in a few days. I've made one of my dreams come true. After becoming an indie author, and adding this to the list of accomplishments in my career, whatever challenge comes next I'll be able to say: "I've got this, I'm ready."


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How to Begin "Re-evaluation Counseling"
If you have heard of Re-evaluation Counseling and of the advantages of using it in your life, and are eager to try it, the following will help you get started.
In its basic form, the practice of Co-Counseling simply consists of two people taking turns listening to each other. It's like a conversation in some ways, but it's different, too. It's a more careful, effective kind of listening. We are talking about listening and paying attention to what you hear. It is thinking about the person who is saying it, and thinking about what he or she is saying, without interrupting the listening by offering suggestions or comments, but simply listening wholeheartedly.
It's simple to get started. It just takes two people. Find a friend (or co-worker or spouse) who will try it with you. Agree that you will take turns listening to each other without interruption for an equal amount of time, and agree how long that time will be. Then decide who is going to listen first. The other person then talks about whatever he or she wants to talk about. The listener just pays attention and doesn't interrupt to give advice or comment or tell how he or she feels.
After the agreed-upon time, the talker becomes the listener, and the one who listened first now talks about anything he or she wants to talk about.
It's a fair exchange. Neither person owes anything to the other. Afterwards, both people usually feel refreshed and think more easily. It's fun, too.
This is good to do whenever you get a chance. As you listen this way more times, you get to know each other better and like each other more and more.
You also get better at listening. The whole process becomes more effective the more times you use it.
Co-Counseling "turns" or "sessions" can be as long or as short as you have time for. Even a few minutes shared with your Co-Counselor can make a big difference in how you are able to think and function, and two hours shared is that much better.
Sometimes the person talking (the "talker" or the "client") may begin to laugh or cry or speak loudly, or sometimes tremble or yawn. This is a fine thing to have happen. It simply means that the person is tense about something, perhaps feeling some embarrassment or grief or fear or physical discomfort, and she or he is releasing the tension this way. She or he is becom-ing "un-embarrassed," "un-sad," "un-afraid." We sometimes call any release of tension in these ways "discharge." The person listening (the "counselor") can feel pleased and relaxed if this happens, and just continue to pay attention to the client without trying to stop any discharge that is occurring. If the client stops his or her own discharge, the listener can reassure him or her that it is fine to continue.
This is the basic idea of Co-Counselingãtwo people take turns listening to each other. You can make many changes in your life just by knowing and doing this.
If you're reading this with someone, you might want to stop reading at this point and try listening to each other, ten minutes each way. Afterwards, tell each other what your impression was.
Once you have "Co-Counseled" a few times with the same person, take time to talk it over and see what you each think of the experience. How did you like having someone listen to you without interrupting? Did you enjoy it? How did you like listening without interrupting? Would you like to continue trying this? You can read on in this booklet for more information about how to do this well.
Time spent listening to each other without interruption is often called a "session." Below are some things that you can experiment with doing in your sessions.
"News and Goods"
You can start your session as client by telling your counselor about "good" things, big or small, that have happened lately. It could be the beautiful sunset you saw last night, or your new job, or a problem you figured out last week. The idea is to give yourself a chance to notice the things that are going well. (This is especially a good idea if you feel discouraged. It helps remind you that maybe things aren't as bad as they feel.) Sometimes people spend whole Co-Counseling sessions just telling "news and goods" and leave feeling much more positive and thinking more clearly.
Recent Upsets
If something has happened recently that you are upset about, a Co-Counseling session is a good place to talk about it. You can tell as much or as little about it as you would like, and you can tell it once or you can tell it over and over. You will probably find that lots of your problems seem to get much smaller if you just get a chance to talk about them without someone trying to give you advice or solve them for you. You will find, more often than not, that you can think of a good solution if you just have someone hear you out and show some confidence in you while you feel upset and talk about the problem.
Troubles from the Past
If you use your turn as client to talk about something that is bothering you, you can sometimes, after you have had a chance to talk about the upset for awhile, ask yourself (or your coun-se-lor can ask you), "What does this situation or this feeling remind you of? When have you felt like this before?" You will almost always think of some situation from the past that was hurtful or upsetting in a similar way. It will be plain that old feelings from that time are still lingering in your mind, adding more confusion and bad feelings to the present situation than there would otherwise be. If you can talk about the earlier situation, what happened then, how you felt, and how it affected you, some of those old bad feelings can then be discharged, leaving you with a fresher look at the present difficulty.
Life Stories
If you come to your session as client and there seems to be nothing in your present life that you need to talk about, try telling your life story. Most people have never had a chance to tell the whole story of their life, and everyone needs a chance to do this. As you tell the story of your life, certain incidents will seem more important in their effect on you, good or bad, than others. These incidents are worth coming back to and talking about many times in Co-Counseling sessions. Getting a chance to review them over and over, with someone who is really listening, can make a surprising difference in your thinking. Bad feelings left over from old, hurtful experiences (including experiences that you thought were "behind you") can come to the surface and discharge, leaving you with a lighter step and freer thoughts. Good experiences, when reviewed with the attention of a good listener, can also help bad feelings from old, difficult times to discharge, and this can help you regain a positive outlook.
Most of us have been belittled or mistreated enough that it is now difficult for us to feel good about ourselves. We have been "blamed" for things when we were doing our best. We have been told many untrue things. We have been told that if we like ourselves, we are "conceited" and that we shouldn't feel good about ourselves. This isn't true. People need to feel good about themselves. When we do feel good about ourselves, we treat other people better, not worse.
In a Co-Counseling session when you are client, tell your counselor what you like about yourself. Tell this to him or her in a tone of voice that sounds like you are proud of yourself (not "superior," just proud). Tell your counselor this over and over. You may find it difficult, but stick with it. Don't stop yourself from laughing or crying or any other type of discharge. Try to appreciate everything about yourself (EVERYTHING). When you notice which things feel harder to appreciate (for example, how you look or how smart you are), focus on appreciating those things. You will probably remember incidents from your life of being criticized, blamed, or mistreated. These incidents will be good to look at and talk about in a counseling session when you are client.
It helps your life go better to set goals for yourself or review your progress towards goals that you have already set. This is a useful thing to do when you are client in a Co-Counseling session. Talk through the different periods of your life, tentatively deciding what you want to accomplish tomorrow, next week, this year, in the next five years, in the next twenty years, in your lifetime. As you talk about each future period, you can think through the steps that you will need to take to reach these goals.
Occasionally reviewing your goals and any apparent obstacles will tend to assist you in achieving them.
Letting Discharge Continue
If you talk about something as client that results in lively talking, laughter, tears, shaking, sweating, or yawning (all forms of discharge), don't rush on to something else. Try repeating what you were saying or doing several times until you are no longer discharging. It's worth doing this over and over for as much time as you can take. The greatest benefits of Co-Counseling come after these releases of tension. They make it possible to think and act in ways that have been inhibited before.
Ending a Session
At the end of a Co-Counseling session, especially if you've been talking about something difficult for you, take a few moments to re-direct your thoughts to something you are looking forward to, or to some simple subject you don't feel tense about, for example, the names of some friends or some favorite foods, or some scenery that you enjoy looking at. This helps make a relaxed change from being a client to becoming a counselor if it is your turn to do this, or to going on to other activities.
For each person to feel safe to talk about what--ever he or she needs to, it works best to agree that you won't discuss it with anyone later. Al-so, keep in mind that alcohol and drugs interfere with the good effects of dis-charging.
It also works well to get a small group of people together to take turns listening to each other. (In RC we call this a "support group.") Each person gets a roughly equal amount of time to talk while the rest of the group listens.
One person acts as the leader of the group to help the group decide how much time each person will get , who will go first, and so on. When each person has had his or her turn as client, you can end the group meeting with each person getting a chance to say what he or she liked best about being in the group meeting or something he or she is looking forward to.
Support groups can meet as often or as many times as the group members wish. The group can be a group of friends, co-workers, neighbors, or people with a similar background or interest. Sharing something in common with the group often helps people feel safer to talk about things they need to talk about. For example, there have been support groups of women, men, parents, young people, working-class people, people of a certain ethnic group or religion, disabled people, artists, and many others.
Inviting friends to the group is a good way to introduce more people to Co-Counseling. If the group becomes too large, it can be divided and a second group formed with a new leader chosen for the new group. About eight people seems to be the optimum size for a group, but they can function well both smaller and larger.
Support groups are a good structure for people from a similar background or similar situation to use to talk about what they like about being a part of that group and what they are proud of about the people from that group. Support groups are also good for talking about what has been hard, what they wish people understood about their group, what hopes and dreams they have for people from their group, and what they would like to do in relation to that group.
For example, in a women's support group, each woman would get a turn sharing what she likes about being a woman, what has been hard about being a woman, what she would like men to understand about women, how she would like to see women's lives improve, and what ways she would like to reach out to other women.
If you try Co-Counseling and you decide that you'd like to learn more, you may get in touch with the main Re-evaluation Counseling office (look at the end of this booklet for the address and phone number), and ask that office if there are any Co-Counselors who live near you. You could also order a few introductory publications. Some good readings to start with are:
The Human Side of Human Beings (the theory of RC), $4.00 (US)
The Fundamentals of Co-Counseling Manual (the beginning practice of RC), $6.00 (US)
The Art of Listening (an introductory talk about RC), $2.00 (US)
An Introduction to Co-Counseling (a very short description of RC), $1.00 (US)
The Human Situation (essays on different topics), $6.00 (US)
Present Time (a general journal published four times a year), $4.00 (US)
Videotapes and audiotapes are also available. (They are all in English, but we do have different video formats for different countries as well as typed transcripts for each videotape.) Someone at the main office can tell you which ones might be good for you to start with.
If you can't afford to pay for literature, explain this to the office and ask if it is possible for Outreach Funds to pay for some literature in order for you to get started.
If you are very interested in learning more about RC and know other people who are eager to learn, we may be able to send a teacher to your group or bring one of you to a workshop.
There is an RC Web site on the Internet, www.rc.org, with lots of information and articles. If you are in an area which does not yet offer RC classes but you can connect to the Internet, you might find the on-line "class" on this Web site helpful.
People who use Re-evaluation Counseling find that it helps them think better, improve relationships, stand up for the right things, and enjoy life more. Co-Counselors usually get "smarter" as they use RC, and they get better at using it. They teach other people about RC and teach them how to teach other people, so that in some places lots of people are using RC, holding classes and workshops, learning from each other, and supporting and encouraging each other.
We have literature published in about thirty different languages, written by Co-Counselors from all over the world, with stories about using RC and with RC information about people of different ages, backgrounds, and situations.
There are a few ground rules and a set of "Community Guidelines," which help Co-Counselors keep things well organized.
Good luck.


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When building a statistical model, you ideally want to find yourself surprised by the data some of the time — just not too often. If you never come up with a result that surprises you, it generally means that you didn't spend a lot of time actually looking at the data; instead, you just imparted your assumptions onto your analysis and engaged in a fancy form of confirmation bias. If you're constantly surprised, on the other hand, more often than not that means your model is buggy or you don't know the field well enough; a lot of the "surprises" are really just mistakes.
So when I build election forecasts for FiveThirtyEight, I'm usually not surprised by the outcomes they spit out — unless they're so surprising (a Republican winning Washington, D.C.?) that they reflect a coding error I need to fix. But there are exceptions, and one of them came in the U.S. Senate race in Texas between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke. I was pretty sure that once we introduced non-polling factors into the model — what we call the "fundamentals" — they'd shift our forecast toward Cruz, just as they did for Marsha Blackburn, the Republican candidate in Tennessee. That's not what happened, however. Instead, although Cruz is narrowly ahead in the polls right now, the fundamentals slightly helped O'Rourke. Our model thinks that Texas "should" be a competitive race and believes the close polling there is no fluke.
We'll return to Texas in a moment, but first, here's a table comparing the polls and fundamentals in the five Senate races where elected Republican incumbents are defending their seats. (We covered races with elected Democratic incumbents in Part 1 of this series and open-seat races in Part 2). As you can see, there isn't really a lot of disagreement between the polls and fundamentals in these races:
Republican incumbents are polling about as well as expected
Forecasted margin of victory for Republican senators who are running for re-election, according to FiveThirtyEight's fundamentals and adjusted polls as of Sept. 26
|Forecasted margin of victory
|Adjusted Polls
I'm not going to discuss Nebraska, Wyoming or the regular election in Mississippi much further.special election in Mississippi, which we covered in Part 2 of this series, is considerably more interesting.">1 You wouldn't expect them to be competitive based on the fundamentals, and they haven't looked competitive when polls have been taken there — although I wouldn't mind seeing a poll of Nebraska, which hasn't had a nonpartisan survey all election cycle or any polling at all since January.
I would note, however, that our fundamentals calculation doesn't expect all Republican incumbents to be in competitive races just as a default — it has Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer winning by 14 percentage points and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso winning by 41, for example. Rather, it's factors particular to Texas that make the model think Cruz is a weaker incumbent and O'Rourke is a stronger challenger than usual. So let's talk about Texas in more detail, and then we'll loop back around to the other close race, Nevada.
Before this year, we treated incumbency as just another variable in our fundamentals model. That was a mistake, because there are all sorts of complicated interactions between incumbency and the other variables that go into the fundamentals. To take an obvious example, the margin of victory in a state or district's previous election is a lot more meaningful when there's an incumbent running than when there are two new candidates on the ballot.
So this year, we built separate fundamentals models2 for races with elected incumbents, compared with open-seat races. One of the most important differences is that a state or district's overall partisanship, as measured by voting in elections for president or state legislature,3 is less important in races with incumbents. Something like presidential voting is a very useful indicator when you don't have a lot of other data to go by. But in races with incumbents, we have a lot of information pertinent to the specific incumbent and his or her strengths. For instance, our fundamentals calculation for Florida's 26th Congressional District knows that Republican Carlos Curbelo won the district by 12 points in 2016 even as the area voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton for president. That doesn't necessarily mean that Curbelo will survive the "blue wave" this year. (He's only a slight favorite for re-election.) But it does mean the presidential vote doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the district
Cruz, on the other hand, shows signs of being a weak incumbent — and O'Rourke shows signs of being a tough challenger. Here's a detailed calculation of exactly what goes into the fundamentals model in Texas.
Some factors hurting Cruz have nothing to do with Cruz himself, but rather with the state of Texas. Historically, the incumbency advantage is larger in small, idiosyncratic states and smaller in larger, more diverse ones. This is why Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono's incumbency advantage in Hawaii is much larger than Cruz's in Texas or Sen. Bill Nelson's in Florida, for example. In addition, Congress's overall approval rating is low, which hurts incumbents in all states and all parties.
Still, Texas is a red state — redder in statewide elections than in presidential ones, in fact — and Cruz won by a fairly healthy (although by no means overwhelming) margin in 2012. That ought to be enough to offset a blue national environment as measured by the generic congressional ballot. If you add up the first four indicators in the table — incumbency, state partisanship, Cruz's previous margin of victory and the generic ballot — they'd project him to win by about 9 percentage points.2012 by 16 percentage points, and the political environment as measured by the generic ballot is about 7 percentage points more Democratic now than it was back then.">4
It's the other factors that push the race toward toss-up status, however. When a challenger has previously held an elected office, they tend to perform better with each level higher that office is. To run for Senate, O'Rourke is giving up his seat in the U.S. House, which is a higher office than had been held by Cruz's 2012 opponent, Paul Sadler, a former state representative. Strong incumbents tend to deter strong challengers from entering the race, but Cruz wasn't able to do so this time. Cruz also has a very conservative voting record, one that is perhaps "too conservative" even for Texas. The model actually penalizes O'Rourke slightly for his DUI scandal, but because the scandal has been public knowledge for a long time, the model discounts its importance.
Fundraising is another influential factor hurting Cruz. Ordinarily, you'd expect an incumbent to have a pretty healthy fundraising advantage. Instead, O'Rourke had more than doubled Cruz in dollars raised from individual contributors as of the end of the last filing period on June 30 — an advantage that will probably only increase once the campaigns file their next fundraising reports, which will cover up through Sept. 30. (Our model considers money raised from individual contributors only — not PACs, parties or self-funding.) If fundraising were even, Cruz would still lead in our fundamentals calculation by 4 percentage points, but O'Rourke's money advantage is enough to bring the overall fundamentals forecast to a dead heat.
One could get into some pretty good arguments about exactly how fundraising should be included in the model. Should out-of-state or out-of-district contributions get less weight, for example? Are Republican donors contributing less in the post-Citizens United era because they expect super PACs to fill in the gaps for them? Still, individual fundraising totals have one really nice quality, which is that they represent hard evidence — tangible action undertaken by individual voters. If you thought you could never trust the polls, fundraising might be one of the first things you'd look at instead. And the fundraising numbers have generally been really good for Democrats, in Texas and in other races for Congress, perhaps reflecting their enthusiasm advantage.
Now that you've read all those words explaining why the fundamentals look the way they do in Texas, I should probably tell you that they don't actually have that much influence on our top-line forecast there. That's because a lot of polling has been done in Texas, and our model doesn't weigh the fundamentals heavily when it has a lot of polling. Nonetheless, the fundamentals help explain why it isn't necessarily a surprise that the polling shows a close race in Texas or that O'Rourke has gradually been gaining ground. At the moment, Cruz leads in our adjusted polling average by 3.8 percentage points; adding in the fundamentals pushes the forecasted margin to 3.3 points, a close race.
Let me also show you the detailed fundamentals calculation for Nevada, which is a more straightforward race:
Republican Sen. Dean Heller is a fairly typical incumbent who should have a decent-sized incumbency advantage, and Nevada is a fairly average swing state. He's drawn an experienced opponent in U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen, however, who has raised slightly more money than Heller has — and the overall political environment is blue. All of that adds up to a race that "should" be a toss-up, which is exactly what the polls in Nevada show too. Nevada may not be as high-profile a race as Texas, but it's just as important in determining control of the Senate.


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Alien vs. Predator 2 star Steven Pasquale talked to MTV and said that you can expect a different movie this time around:
"[We're] trying to get back to the basics [with] the suspense and the gore," actor Steven Pasquale told MTV News, revealing that "AVP2" will be considerably scarier than its predecessor. "I think it's going to be really fun. [Directors] Colin and Greg Strause really know what they're doing in terms of a sort of true-blue monster movie."
He talks more about the story here! "AVP2" opens in theaters on December 25.
Source: MTV


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