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Mystery Solved: Marine Microbe Is Source of Rare Nutrient
September 28, 2009
A new study of microscopic marine microbes, called phytoplankton, by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of South Carolina has solved a ten-year-old mystery about the source of an essential nutrient in the ocean.
Roughly a decade ago scientists discovered a rare form of organic phosphorus in marine organic matter. Not only were the researchers surprised to find this form of phosphorus, called phosphonate, but the concentrations in which it was found were very high, throughout the ocean. Scientists hypothesized that phosphonate is produced and consumed in the ocean, but no one understood where it came from and why it was so abundant.
Enter Trichodesmium. In 2006, WHOI biologist Sonya Dyhrman along with other WHOI colleagues initiated a field and laboratory study with this phytoplankton group, which is plentiful in low-nutrient warm tropical and subtropical waters. They discovered that Tricodesmium uses phosphonate to fuel its biological processes, including the fixation of carbon and nitrogen.
Their finding was unexpected because, chemically, phosphonate has a very strong carbon-phosphorus bond that requires a lot of energy, and a special set of genes, for Trichodesmium to break.
But Dyhrman and her colleagues's discovery that Trichodesmium could use this form of phosphorus to support carbon and nitrogen fixation still didn't solve the basic mystery: where were the high concentrations of this rare compound coming from?
Now, a study newly published in Nature Geoscience by Dyhrman and her colleague Claudia Benitez-Nelson, a marine geochemist with the University of South Carolina, has solved the long-standing mystery.
"We've been fascinated by these phosphonate compounds for a while," said Benitez-Nelson. "Sonya and I decided that something had to be producing them, and we had to start looking at all these organisms to figure out who it was."
"After culturing several different kinds of phytoplankton and analyzing them using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we found high concentrations of phosphonate in cultures of a specific Trichodesmium species – in fact an average of 10 percent of the cellular phosphorus is in the form of phosphonate. Ten percent may not sound like much, but this is the most phosphonate ever detected in a marine microbe," said Dyhrman.
They selected many species of phytoplankton, grew them under different conditions in the laboratory, and then collected the cells onto filters. The filters were dried, and then analyzed by NMR.
"Our procedure is unique in that we are measuring filter samples directly using solid state 31P NMR" said Benitez-Nelson. "By carefully folding the filters, and using a non-destructive NMR method, we avoided subjecting the samples to anything that would break those phosphonate bonds. We got our detection limits down to extremely low levels."
"When we first saw the phosphonate peak in the Trichodesmium culture, we were stunned, after a 10-year mystery it seemed ironic for Trichodesmium to both consume and produce this compound. We ran it again. We grew them under different nutrient conditions and, sure enough, the results were the same," said Benitez-Nelson.
Trichodesmium plays an important ecological role in both the global carbon and nitrogen cycles. Like other phytoplankton, it photosynthesizes, drawing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to supply the Earth with oxygen and transforming carbon into a solid compound. Even more impressive, Trichodesmium can use nitrogen gas from the atmosphere and transform it into a compound that other organisms can consume. Because the open ocean is nitrogen-barren, nitrogen fixers such as Trichodesmium are critical to the marine food web, supplying nutrients, and stimulating more phytoplankton growth, which in turn moves more carbon and nitrogen through the food web.
This study determined that Trichodesmium transforms a percentage of all dissolved phosphorus into phosphonates – which is not readily consumed by other organisms. Living in low-phosphorus environments, this gives Trichodesmium a potential advantage over its competitors and, as nutrient supplies to the ocean change with climate, could shift the composition of phytoplankton communities in the ocean.
"Not only does this solve a mystery about where these forms of phosphorus are coming from, but the fact that it is Trichodesmium has ramifications for how the phosphorus cycle is linked to the cycling of carbon and nitrogen and how those cycles will function in the future ocean," said Dyhrman.
There is a lot yet to be learned. "If we don't understand what kinds of phosphorus are present in the ocean, we have no hope of predicting to what extent marine phytoplankton will sequester carbon in the future ocean," said Dyhrman.
As ocean surface waters warm, scientists expect even greater limitations on the nutrient supply, particularly phosphorus. This could drive the production of phosphonate and the use of phosphonate as a phosphorus source. For Trichodesmium, which can use phosphonate, this scenario could be beneficial, and, for humans concerned about climate change, it could enhance the extraction of carbon from the ocean. However, Dyhrman and colleagues warn, if the phosphonate used by Trichodesmium is a methylated form, it could produce methane – a powerful greenhouse gas.
It is an interesting wrinkle that will be the focus of future research.
This work was funded by the National Science Foundation and WHOI.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the oceans' role in the changing global environment.


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Latin American meeting on the international protection of children and the recovery of maintenance abroad
From 4 until 6 December 2013, officials from National Organs, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Ministries of Justice, State Attorneys, representatives of the Judiciary, Members of the International Hague Network of Judges, Central Authorities, Childhood Authorities and academics from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and Uruguay, met in Santiago, Chile, for the Latin American Meeting on the International Protection of Children and the Recovery of Maintenance Abroad. The Santiago Meeting focused on analysis and discussion of the Hague Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children (the "1996 Convention") and the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (the "2007 Convention"). The Santiago Meeting was co-organised by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) and the Heidelberg Center for Latin America.
The main objectives of the Santiago Meeting were to: i) consider the benefits resulting from the implementation of the 1996 and 2007 Conventions and to facilitate their study by relevant national authorities and other actors in the region; ii) discuss with relevant national authorities and other actors the potential impact of the coming into force of the 1996 and 2007 Conventions and to respond to questions on the implementation and operation of the two Conventions; iii) disseminate the results of the analysis and products developed in the context of this initiative, and to make them available to relevant actors in the region.
One of the working documents prepared for discussion during the meeting, the "Explanatory Note on specific matters concerning the 1996 Convention", can be downloaded here (in English only).
The final report of the meeting, unanimously agreed upon by participants, is available in English, French and Spanish.

subset: commoncrawl


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A network adapter also called a network interface card is a plug-in card that serves to allow computers to both transmit and receive data on a local network. It is a component of a computer's internal hardware that facilitates communication over a network.
In a more current context, network adapters will refer to an Ethernet adapter where the Ethernet circuitry is built into motherboards of the latest desktops and laptop computers. Other times, a network adapter may also refer to a wireless (Wi-Fi) adapter.
In all instances, the adapter allows a computer to connect with another computer, a server, or other networking devices through a LAN connection. The use of a network adapter is not limited to wired connections as it is used for wireless networks. The adapters for wired networks come with an RJ-45 port that may use either the twisted or untwisted pair cables for network connectivity. For the wireless adapters, the network connection is facilitated through a built-in antenna or an externally connected antenna. Both the wired and wireless network adapters support the popular LAN protocols including TCP/IP. We have 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, 6-port, 8-port, and 16-port options that support speeds of 10, 25, 40, or even 100 Gigabits.
The plug-in network interface cards (NICs) are normally used in high-performance machines especially if a faster Ethernet standard is relatively new and available but is yet to become mainstream. In fact, the major difference between network adapters lies in the network protocol it supports.
We have the different types of network adapters necessary for building computer-to-computer networks that don't have a switch or hub. All the network adapters are fairly inexpensive and readily adaptable to different applications within a network. Some of the common types available are:


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I-Team In-Depth
OSHA Penalties Drop Nearly 50 Percent In Five Years
Penalties levied against Connecticut companies for violations of occupational safety rules dropped by more than half between 2011 and 2015, and the number of cases with penalties fell by 40 percent in the same time period, according to a C-HIT analysis of federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) data. Data from the agency's offices in Bridgeport and Hartford show initial penalties against Connecticut employers totaled $10.86 million in 2011 and dropped to $5.07 million in 2015. Companies were able to negotiate settlements, lowering penalty payments to $6.26 million in 2011, and $3.51 million in 2015. For the first nine months of 2016, the downward trends in cases and fines are continuing, the data show. Reasons for the declines vary: Government officials point to safer workplaces and more compliance with regulations.


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Miley Cyrus Mourns Death of 'The Voice' Alum Janice Freeman
Miley Cyrus has been left reeling from news that The Voice alum Janice Freeman died at age 33.
The "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" singer addressed Freeman's death on Instagram, thanking her for all that she did on the show and beyond. She shared a photo of a rainbow on her Instagram Story, writing that it "perfectly" represented Freeman.
"Thank you @janicefreeman.. for everything," Cyrus, 26, wrote. "This represents you perfectly."
TMZ broke the news of Freeman's passing, reporting that the singer was in her home in Pasadena, California when she died. She reportedly complained to husband Dion that she was having trouble breathing. The outlet reported that Dion called 911 and performed CPR on Freeman until paramedics arrived. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital at around 5:30 p.m. local on Saturday, TMZ reported.
Freeman competed on Cyrus' team on The Voice during season 13. According to TMZ, she battled lupus, cervical cancer and meningitis previously. She reportedly recently beat the cancer.
She spoke openly about Cyrus' impact on her life in the past, tweeting that Cyrus was one of her "closest friends." Freeman said the award winning musician helped her and her family find a place to live while they looked for a permanent home.
"Thank you ALL but she found us placement until we found permanent housing, gave me the deposit, covered me for 6 months so I can get on my feet!," Freeman tweeted. "@MileyCyrus you are one of my closest friends and what you did for me and my family I'm praying GOD gives you the desire of your heart!"
The same day, Freeman did an Instagram Live in which she got emotional speaking about Cyrus, according to Us Weekly. She called Cyrus her "dawg," adding that she was "overwhelmed" by her support.
"Miley, you are my dawg, like my best friend, and I will defend you to the bitter end," she said, nearly crying, according to the outlet. "You got somebody that got your back. I'm so overwhelmed and I need y'all to understand that it is time to go into 2018 believing God for real. Y'all don't understand that you see these people on TV....but you don't understand that these people are real. Her heart is so huge and she allows God to user her to bless my life."
Freeman leaves behind a husband and daughter.


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SAME. The history of agriculture in just four letters.
There's an inseparable association between SAME and the world of farming, which the company has helped to modernise with its tractors and an endless series of technical innovations. Each model is modern, efficient, rugged and well-built, safe and reliable, a faithful and tireless partner.
SAME has gained the trust of entire generations of farmers all over the world, becoming a point of reference for the hallmark values of solidity and practicality that it has always represented and that it continues to express to this day.


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With the frendliest locals,
great food and culture
at very reasonable prices
Sail out in the unknown,
find remote, untouched beaches
get away from everything.
Have the sun washing down on you
with mild temperatures and
perfect winds on your sail.
Globusyachting is an established
yacht charterer with years of
experience and stellar reputation.
Globus Yachting and Travel Agency has designed this website to be a complete planning resource and guide for vacations in Greece. Choose from a variety of activities such as: Sailing, Motor yacht or Catamaran charter vacations, Sea tourism, Cruises, Historical -Heritage tours and relaxing holidays at extraordinary destinations in carefully selected accommodations in Greece!!! We are proud to present this guide to unforgettable vacations in some of the most beautiful and historic places and islands on the planet.
Book with us today and benefit from our years of experience in Sea Tourism and charter industry – and our deep knowledge of Greek History and culture. We love to share this knowledge with our clients and offer to them wonderful quality experiences. We can accommodate business and social group-travel charters on multiple vessels and mini-cruise ships, and private or small group tours around Greece and Greek Islands.
It may seem quaint to call Greece the "land of the gods" but a sailing holiday in the islands will soon persuade you that whoever coined the phrase was not far off the mark. Thousands of miles of coastline and islands in all colors and varieties await your yacht.
From the Saronic isles nearest to Athens to the thousands of whitewashed islands in the Cyclades, the serenity of the Ionian archipelago or the Dodecanese to the pine laden islands of the Northern Sporades or the historic splendor of Crete each is a sailing experience worth a lifetime. Globus Yachts guarantees you the best sailing holiday of your life! How can we be so confident? Three reasons: high quality yachts, reliable backup, and premium service. You will sail one of the best, most reliable charter yachts available. We offer no other kind. You will not be alone if something goes wrong. We are reachable twenty-four hours a day in case of emergency and wherever you are, there will always be someone to help you. We are represented on every major Greek island, so you may sail wherever you wish, in confidence.
Your holiday is only a few clicks away. Please start first leg of your cruise through our web site and let us to make your dream holiday become true. Globus Yachting simply offers you the best possible sailing experience that you can ever have along Greece's beautiful islands.
Since we began operating, our charter experience has provided hundreds of clients around the world with a unique travel experience as well as all possible services that made their holiday a memorable adventure.
Let our professionals help you plan your trip with exceptional customer service and a goal of exceeding your expectations. Their local knowledge of the Greek islands, ensures you will always be in the perfect setting, whether it's at the waters edge of the best bars and nightlife, or in serene bays with out another soul in sight. Sit back and plot your course though paradise, with Globus Yachting guiding you to all the places you want to go, you can do as much or as little as you like.
Following your initial contact, our customer service department will handle all your requests and liaise with you to organize the perfect holiday. Read More
Your holiday is only a few clicks away. Find out what you need to know to travel to Greece today!
The weather in the Greek Islands is beautiful with cloudless blue skies, especially in summer. For sailing conditions CLICK HERE.
Member of the Hellenic Professional Yacht Owners Association , and of the Greek Yacht Brokers & Professional Yacht Owners Bare Boat Association
Yposminagou Parousi 86-88, 17676, Kallithea
Athens, Greece
License Number (Greek National Tourism Organization): 0261E 60000717201
Bases in Athens, Lefkas, Kos and Rhodos
Helpdesk +30 211 012 8590
Μοbile +30 6944 257838


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Bryspun Flexible US#9 (5.5mm) 14" Single Point Needles
Gently flexible, these needles are great for the knitter with arthritis, or other hand concerns. The straight needles bend to accommodate the knitters hands, without influencing the stitches on the needle. Durable and hard wearing, these needles are great for a variety of projects worked flat. Available in a wide range of sizes, a staple in any knitter's needle collection.


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Manga licensing is a tricky business. There are companies that won't work with other companies, titles that are too expensive to reasonably bring over the U.S., mangaka who are wary about having their work brought to an English-speaking audience and many other things to consider before licensing a title for the finicky U.S. market. It's especially hard to judge demand when there are so many people reading scanlations. Is this title popular enough despite all those people who've already read it for free? Will fans devote their money to a manga regardless? It's hard to judge a risky market like manga publishing sometimes. The best that can be done sometimes is to listen to their demands, but that might not always be the easiest thing to do because of all the restrictions mentioned above.
But what if we pretended to wipe the slate clean and have our own publishing companies for a moment? You're given the opportunity to license any two manga titles that you wanted to, regardless of price, publisher politics or the relative lack of demand for the titles you pick. What would you license?
Rose of Versailles? Sailor Moon? Jungle Emperor Leo? What are you dying to publish the most?
I've tried to give the subject matter a lot of thought. It's really hard to pick just two titles because there's probably two dozen on my mental shortlist. Do I really want this one over this other one? I'm not sure, because I'd probably buy either in an instant.
But I've decided. I would want to bring over Osamu Tezuka's Nana-iro Inko (Rainbow Parakeet), which I've mentioned wanting before, and Saint Oniisan (Saint Young Men) by Hikaru Nakamura.
Had I a chance to bring over a third title, I would have probably picked Moto Hagio's A Cruel God Reigns, but I think the above two titles would have to be my first two picks. Nana-iro Inko because it sounds like a fun, under-estimated Tezuka title and Saint Oniisan because I read it (when I felt less guilty about scanlations) and loved it so much. (I would buy for myself in an instant and recommend it to all my friends who have a good sense of humor about religion.) It would break my heart to never ever see either title in English, in my lifetime. (Whereas I just want to see more of Moto Hagio's work and had a hard time picking between A Cruel God Reigns and Poe no Ichizoku.)
So I'll ask again: If you could have any two titles published in your language, regardless of any extenuating circumstances, what would those two titles be?


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My passion used to be Dr. Pepper, but then I married Jonathan and he didn't like coke (I say, "coke" 'cause I'm from the southwest, see?) and so I gave that up for love. I tried to like coffee but it just never happened all the way and why push things? Jonathan didn't like that either anyway. Coke Zero has been a nice substitute (after 7 years of marriage with no DP there had to be an outlet somewhere!) and tea floated in and out. I knew I was supposed to like tea because I liked books. The two go hand and in hand. Alas. I felt like a failure in the beverage department.
Then something happened.
My friend took me to a tea house and I became instantly obsessed with the different varieties and flavors which can be made and drunk all throughout the day for my glory and benefit. (This, my friends, was all of four months ago.) Now every day you'll find me concocting new flavors as I mix and match my bags (not brave enough for loose leaves just yet) to make things like: cinnamon chocolate, chocolate rose, peppermint chocolate. (I go a little heavy on the chocolate, you see, but you would too if you tried it. And you should try it.)
So, as I say, my friend took me to this tea house little knowing that she was going to create a TEA MONSTER. But that's exactly what she did.
Since that time I have thrown two tea parties (with said friend): a Christmas one and the Anne of Green Gables one. Next on our list is a Downton Abbey tea (even though I quit watching Downton this season because I was tired of having my heart ripped out of my chest and mercilessly stomped on). (Before anyone gets upset - or not - I read every spoiler that I could find online for Season 4 so I feel up to speed and once I've calmed down from episode one I may, eventually, go on and watch some more. But as long as my emotions are in play, I will not. Besides, the Olympics are on and they are more interesting.)
But to get back to the point - I'm really into tea and have at least half a dozen themes for parties at the ready. On my list is a Jane Austen tea and so onto my Amazon wishlist went Tea with Jane Austen, by Kim Wilson. And then it arrived one day thanks to a surprise from my husband who much prefers that I drink tea and not Dr. Pepper. Or coffee. Or Coke Zero. (Ladies and gentleman, we have found our compromise!)
Here's another confession: I've never really connected with Austen. I think that's due in part to the fact that all women everywhere seem to and so I felt pressured to like her when I wasn't yet ready to. (What can you glean from my personality with that last statement?) Then, a year or so ago I re-read Emma and enjoyed it. As our family is in the planning stages for a trip to England, I've been thinking that I should read and re-read some Austen to prepare myself when Jonathan handed me Tea with Jane Austen. I
Tea with Jane Austen takes a look at Jane's relationship with this popular beverage. She explores a little of the history of tea, explaining why it featured so heavily in Jane's works. For instance, when tea was first presented to the public it was very expensive and only the wealthy could afford to drink it. The Austen family went to great pains to purchase their tea which they kept locked up, away from the servants. Jane herself was the one who made the family's tea and approached it very thoughtfully.
Author Kim Wilson explores the social aspect of tea, how it grew in popularity, the opposition it met with and, of course, the way it was come to be taken. This is a very fascinating read not just as it relates to Jane Austen but how we, the modern reader, can relate to tea as well. There is something very relaxing about taking a cup of hot tea. For one thing, it's usually served hot so that you can't gulp it in one fell swoop. You take small sips, usually while reading a book or conversing with another. A hot pot of tea makes the world slow down somehow. Like magic. It sets one at ease in a way I've only recently begun to understand. A pretty cup in the hand delights the spirit as well as the eyes and there is encouragement in taking a moment to stop and just be.
Tea has long been linked to books, of course, and I can see now how fitting that is. You want to sit and savor the words as well as the flavor on your tongue. In a world of books and tea there is no hurry and no rush and that is the very opposite of what we're used to experiencing in our lives. It is good to be busy and to be productive but it is also important to stop and rest and fellowship. I think there is something in the practice and habit of taking tea that ministers to the soul. It gives one pause. And it's pretty. Also, it is yummy. There is nothing to complain about here.
If you love tea or Jane Austen (or probably both) then I think you'll find Tea with Jane Austen a quick and entertaining read. I loved it.
For the curious, I read the book in two sittings. The first half of the book was accompanied by a couple of cups of pumpkin spice chocolate tea. The second reading was spent with peppermint chocolate.


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It's a good week for me and the Association for Asian Studies. I just got my Journal of Asian Studies in the mail. Not only did I get the journal, but the cover image is my photograph of firefighters at the 1985 Atsuta Festival. There's an article that goes with it, Mary Alice Haddad on the democratization of volunteer fire departments, which is quite interesting1, including the fact that there are almost 900 thousand volunteer firefighters in Japan, which makes it one of the larger civic traditions.
In addition, the very first review in the Japan section is Jeffrey Lesser's review of Japanese Diasporas: Unsung Pasts, Conflicting Presents and Uncertain Futures, Edited by Nobuko Adachi, in which I have a chapter. He doesn't mention my chapter in the review2, but he does praise the book generally, and the review includes discussion of another work — Toake Endoh, Exporting Japan — which apparently addresses a familiar argument about the relationship between colonial and migration policy in useful detail.
To make it a perfect week, I'd have to be going to the AAS Meeting in Philadelphia. Well, I am! I'll be presenting a paper on Friday afternoon joined by some very interesting folks:
Session 106: National Borders and Memory Borders: The Prewar Japanese Diaspora and Postwar Memories of the "Homeland"
Hometown pride and "safe" international history in rural western Japan, Martin Dusinberre
Diaspora Memory: Selective Histories of Japanese Emigration, Jonathan Dresner
Lost Homeland: Colonial Memories of Manchuria in Okinawa after World War II, Shinzo Araragi
Beyond Conflicted Memories of the "Second Hometown": a homecoming tour of Japanese repatriates to the Philippines , Mariko Iijima
Many thanks to Martin, in particular, for organizing the panel.
Naturally, I'll be blogging and tweeting the conference, as much as I can.
Now, who else will be there, and when can we have a blogger meetup?
I didn't know that when I gave permission to use the picture, of course, but I figured Wasserstrom, et al., knew what they were doing ↩
none of the reviews I've seen have, actually. It's not entirely surprising, since my chapter is a little odd-man-out, looking at diaspora from the perspective of the Japanese government's anxieties about the cultural illiteracy of emigrants, instead of from a particular diaspora community. ↩


text: The KONG Low Stuff Flopzie Fox and Lamb has a long body and weighted bottom ignite shaking and thrashing fun while rewarding a dog's natural instincts. Inside, there's less stuffing for less mess and multiple squeakers that feature a variety of tones that keep dog's engaged. While their soft bodies and snuggly fur make these adorable buddies great for cuddling, they also feature added lining to ensure playtime lasts a little longer.


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Detroit Audience Gives Neil Young a 'Rough Night'
On July 3, Neil Young live-streamed a solo acoustic show from the Fox Theatre in Detroit that didn't go completely as planned. Audience members, perhaps fueled by Fourth of July celebrations, disrupted the performance, shouting at the 72-year-old singer as he played and spoke from the stage.
The Detroit News reported fans treated the "deeply personal and intimate" concert "like a rollicking Crazy Horse show in an arena or an amphitheater, yelling out song titles ... or bellowing Young's name ... so boorishly and so frequently that it ruined the vibe of the evening."
"You can keep shouting them, but I'm never going to play any of them," Young is reported to have replied.
The incident seemed to rattle the usually impervious Young, who took to his blog on the Neil Young Archives website to discuss what he termed a "rough night."
"It was the Fourth of July holiday and some folks were celebrating, already high when they arrived at the show," he wrote. "Because it was a holiday, I could see it coming. They were focused on their celebration, kind of like a festival. Any subtle solo performance of songs is very challenged under those conditions."
You can see video from the performance below.
It's apparent that Young believes those in the Detroit audience who came to actually listen got a subpar performance from him.
"I could slip deeply into a song if not distracted," he noted, "but I am just relegated to the surface while fighting off distraction, and so is the rest of the audience. Likewise, I may have told a story that sets up the experience of listening to the song, if I was not interrupted while trying."
He did, according to US 103.1, manage to speak about playing Detroit's Chess Mate coffeehouse, and writing songs in the White Castle restaurant across the street. He also played Buffalo Springfield's classic "Broken Arrow" on piano, as well as "After the Goldrush" on pump organ and "I Am a Child" on his Martin D45 guitar — what Young called "some very fine and engaged moments."
"There were some songs that shone through in spite of the obstacles and I am very happy they did," Young noted, adding that he hoped to one day return to Detroit — to a more receptive, less disruptive audience — and give them a more fully engaged performance.
"Every time I got through this type of experience, part of me does not ever want to go through it again," he wrote, "yet it is a risk taken every time I walk out to a solo stage."


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Painter Near Kent Hills
5 Factors to Consider before Hiring Putnam County Painting Contractors
Hudson Pro Contracting is a leading Putnam County full-service home improvement contractor. We provide a range of services, including interior house painting. With more than 20 years of experience and a commitment to outstanding quality, when you choose our interior house painters, you can have confidence knowing that you will receive the highest quality results that will last for years to come.
Important Factors to Consider before Hiring Painting Contractors in Putnam County
Is the paint on the walls of your Kent Hills, NY home is fading, peeling, chipping, or covered in scuff marks? Do you just want to update the look of a room or your entire house? Whatever your situation may be, if you're looking for a house painter to do the job, you want to be sure that you hire the most experienced and reputable professional.
There are a lot of painting contractors in Putnam County, so how do you know if you're choosing the right person for the job? When you're looking for a painter, consider the following factors to point you in the right direction.
License and Insurance
Make sure that the painting contractor you're thinking about hiring is fully licensed and insured. Licensure is important because it certifies that the painter met all necessary requirements to perform their services as a professional. Furthermore, licensing safeguards you from any mishaps; you'll be hard-pressed to seek legal action if the contractor isn't licensed.
Insurance is essential, too. Legally, professional interior house painters are required to carry insurance, but just because it's required, that doesn't mean that all contractors carry it. Insurance is pricy and some contractors skimp on coverage to cut their expenses. The last thing you want to do is hire a painter that isn't insured. If you do and something goes wrong – your property is damaged or the contractor is injured, for example – you'll be responsible for the expenses. Make sure to ask for proof of insurance. At a minimum, the contractor should have general liability and workers' compensation coverage. Any reputable painter will be more than happy to share their certificate of insurance with you.
Find out about prospective painting contractors' credentials. How long have they been in business? Are they associated with any trade associations? Have they been recognized by any professional service associations; Angie's List, the Better Business Bureau, or Home Advisor, for example. Have they completed professional training?
A house painter's credentials are very important. They are proof of their dedication to professionalism and their commitment to providing high-quality results.
Reviews and References
You can learn a lot about the type of experience and results you can expect from a contractor's previous clients. Past customers can shed valuable light on their overall experience and the results that painting contractors provided. Check review sites like Angie's List and Home Advisor to see what past clients had to say. Ask prospective interior house painters for a list of references and get in touch with them. Ask about the type of experience the contractor's references had, whether or not they were satisfied with the finished product if they felt the painter was professional, and if they'd recommend their services.
Size of the Crew
The size of a painting contractor's crew is important. You want to be sure that they'll have enough hands on deck to get the job finished as quickly as possible. If your painting project is big – you want to have the entire interior of your Kent Hills, NY house painted, for example – the work will be finished a lot faster when a crew of several painters is on the job than a one- or two-person crew. A multi-person crew will deliver better results, too. Interior painting is a big undertaking for one or two people. Smaller crews are more likely to get overwhelmed, tired, and may cut corners to get the job done faster.
Materials and Supplies
Lastly, find out about the materials and supplies that prospective contractors use. Make sure that they don't try to cut corners by using poor-quality paints and materials. Ask about the type of paint they use; you want to be sure that they use products from a well-known paint manufacturer. Inquire about the different supplies they use, too; brushes, rollers, etc. In order to get the best results, high-quality materials and supplies are an absolute must.
For Top-Quality Interior Painting Services in Putnam County, Contact Hudson Pro Contracting
If you're looking for interior house painters in Putnam County that you can rely on to deliver top-quality results, quickly and affordably, look no further than Hudson Pro Contracting! With more than 20 years of experience, a proven track record of success, and a long list of satisfied clients throughout the Kent Hills, NY area, when you choose our team of painting contractors for your project, you can be sure that you will get the best results possible.
To learn more about our interior painting services or to schedule a free consultation, please call 914-490-1218. One of our knowledgeable and friendly associates will be happy to answer all of your questions. At Hudson Pro Contracting, we're looking forward to transforming the interior of your home with a fresh coat of paint.
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- Find the Kent Hills, NY United States Post Office
- Locate nearby Kent Hills, NY pharmacies
- View the current Kent Hills, NY weather report
- Browse a list of Kent Hills, NY public and private schools
- Kent Hills, NY is located in Putnam county in New York State


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Styling and Props in Food Photography
The Art of Presentation
One of the reasons I love food photography is that I truly enjoy styling and crafting the food, and one of the biggest compliments I get from people is that my images made them hungry! When we eat food, all of our senses are at work—we see, smell, touch, and taste the food—but when we look at a photo, we can use our eyes only. Styling food is one way to capture its flavors, aromas, and textures and to communicate them to viewers. Creating an amazing-looking dish is an art, whether you eat it or photograph it, and you can do a lot of little things to enhance the look of the food and (ideally) make people salivate when they view your photographs.


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Certification Board
The DAA Web Analyst Certification Program™ is governed by an independent certification board. The board is responsible for providing technical expertise and for setting the direction of the certification program. Responsibilities of the board include overseeing:
- Standards by which the program will operate
- Decisions related to granting, maintaining, renewing, and suspending certifications
- Administration and scoring of examinations
- Fee structure
- Grievance and disciplinary procedures
- Allocation of adequate program resources
To ensure appropriate stakeholder involvement, the certification board includes individuals representing the following groups:
- Practitioners
- Employers
- Academia
- Related associations
Contact our for more information.
Certification Board Members:
- Chair: June Li and Steen Rasmussen
- Liaison to the Board of Directors: John Lovett Ned Kumar
- Examinations Committee Representative: Hugh Gage
- Spencer Altman
- Elizabeth Winston Brady
- Jan Doorneweerd
- Ned Kumar
- Chico Pacheco
- Lisa Seaman
- Jing Suk
Examination Committee Members:
- Chair: Hugh Gage
- Feras Alhlou
- Thomas Jacobsen
- Robin Steffek
- Susumu Teshima
- Keefe Wong
- Randy Zwitch
Find out more about the Examination Committee.


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~ 1/2 yard lightweight paper-backed fusible webbing
~ fabrics for the letters (you can do i-spy prints like in my example here, or other prints like the one I'm making today)
~ fabrics for page backgrounds (at least three)
~ lightweight batting or felt
~ clear monofilament thread
~ permanent marker
~ printer paper
STEP TWO: Layer your backwards letters under your fusible webbing and trace around them with a sharp pencil. I like to use mechanical pencils for this.
You may want to draw little arrows to show which way is up on some of the trickier letters -- like "b," "d", and "p" -- to avoid confusion when you are ironing them onto your fabrics. I've ruined many an i-spy letter because I couldn't tell whether I was doing a "d" or a "p!"
Next you will make a little mock-up of your book. This will help you determine background colors.


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Website promotion is essential to promote your e-business. Building a website is not enough for carrying on a successful online business. You have to adopt right link building strategy to promote your website in a search engine friendly manner. Search engines consider link popularity as an important factor to determine the ranks of the websites.
A website with quality links is likely to rank among the top ten results of the search engines. The link popularity for every search engine is different from the other. You can find out the link popularity by typing "Link: domain name of the website" in any of the search engine. The compete details of the sites linking to your website will be in front of you.
You can devise an effective link building strategy to raise the link popularity of your website. You can incorporate three types of links for this purpose— internal, external and reciprocal links.
The best possible way to have a good linking plan for your website is to develop a site map. A site map is the plan of the whole website that contains entire links on a website. The links are specified according to the specific details of a topic. They are generally given in a hierarchical manner. The links must be text links containing the keywords related to your website. This makes the search of the search engine for links quite easy.
You can have a quality internal links and can get the pages of your website linked internally. The website is rated as a good quality website, if it has rightly placed internal links. The link building strategy also stresses up on the outgoing links. They make your website user-friendly.
Connecting to the right websites makes your website to access good content. If the content of the sites related to your site is not good or useless, the search engines will not consider such links as useful. The message is clear that you have to stress on the quality of the links rather than the quantity.
The inbound links are the most important for link building strategy. You can get other websites to link to your website by developing good content. According to the experts, content of a website is the primary decisive factor in link building. Others will be interested to link to your website, if and only if, you have a good content on it.
The expert link building strategy is also to build reciprocal links with your competitors. This is beneficial to both the parties of linking. Both of them will provide targeted traffic to each other. This link building strategy is the ultimate mantra for getting quality links and gain good link popularity as the information on both the links will be related to each other.
The accurate link building strategy pushes ahead your target of link popularity, resulting in high search engine ranks.


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- 241 E Main St, Bridgeport, WV 26330
Welcome to the Oliverios Florist website.
Oliverios Florist delivers flowers and gifts to the Bridgeport, WV area. You can send flowers for any occasion including Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. We offer a large variety of fresh flowers and gifts. Enjoy the convenience of safe and secure ordering online 24 hours a day. The goal is to exceed our customers' expectations with quality, value and professional service.


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(Redirected from Al-Qaida)
This is the category for Al-Qaeda. Latest storiesRefresh this list to see the latest articles.
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write. Sister projects
This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total.
- 9/11 (54 articles)
- Osama bin Laden (47 articles; 1 file)
Pages in category "Al-Qaeda"
The following 185 pages are in this category, out of 185 total.
- Abbott open to possible Australian assistance in Iraq
- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in airstrike
- Afghan coalition forces repel Taliban ambush: 8 killed, 16 captured
- Afghanistan: 17 killed, 47 injured in Afghan suicide attack on market
- Al Qaeda bomb maker reportedly killed in U.S. airstrike in Pakistan
- Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi reported "wounded"
- Al-Jazeera airs new video of Ayman al-Zawahri
- Al-Qaeda commander Abou Zeid killed in Mali by French forces
- Al-Qaeda in Iraq second-in-command reported killed during US raid
- Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq 'killed'
- Al-Qaeda releases new videotape
- Al-Qaeda releases video of Sudanese hostages
- Al-Qaeda says bin Laden death will 'not be wasted'; Pentagon releases videos of terrorist leader in compound
- Al-Qaeda terror ad warns of 'big surprise'
- Al-Qaeda threaten to kill British Prince Harry in Iraq
- Al-Qaeda threatens UK over Rushdie's knighthood
- Al-Qaeda warns Saudi Arabia of attacks
- Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri appears in new videotape
- Al-Qaida demands hostage exchange; threatens to kill if demands not met
- Algerian driver released by hostage takers in Niger
- Algerian forces kill at least eight al-Qaeda rebels
- Algerian rebel group claims kidnapping of two Austrians in Tunisia
- Alleged 9-11 conspirators will confess and plead guilty
- Alleged 9-11 conspirators withdraw offer of guilty pleas
- Alleged Al-Qaeda leader killed in Saudi Arabia
- American-born terrorist gets 24 years
- Anger and unrest continue over US raid in Laghman, Afghanistan
- At least 150 militants and 50 Pakistani troops killed in clashes
- At least 52, including six Shia Muslim activists, to be executed in Saudi Arabia
- At least fifteen dead in Iraq after gunmen attack central bank
- Attack on mosque kills 30 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
- Ayman al-Zawahiri appears in new videotape
- Ayman al-Zawahri releases new video tape
- Benazir Bhutto buried; violence erupts in assassination aftermath
- Bin Laden's former driver convicted of supporting terrorism
- Blair agrees Iraq is a disaster
- Bomb blast at Iraqi football match kills 25, many wounded
- Bomb explosions kill several people in central Baghdad
- Bombings in Iraq kill dozens
- Wikinews:Briefs/April 14, 2012
- Wikinews:Briefs/January 15, 2009
- British court 'threatened' by United States
- British Prime Minister David Cameron makes unannounced visit to Libya
- FBI arrests four in alleged plot to bomb Bronx synagogues, shoot down plane
- Fifteen killed in Mogadishu, Somalia suicide bombing
- First Australian convicted under new anti-terrorism laws
- First Guantánamo Bay prisoner sentenced
- Five of six accused over 9/11 to be tried; charges against '20th hijacker' dropped
- Four killed in militant attack on Karachi military base
- France fears serial killer responsible for recent murders
- France first to enforce burqa ban
- France holds five suspects in Algiers bombing
- France knew of and told CIA about al-Qaeda hijack plans prior to 9/11
- French newspaper suggests Osama bin Laden may be dead
- Imam pleads guilty in New York subway bomb plot
- Internet posting says al-Qaeda plans dirty bomb attack in New York City
- Iraq police academy suicide bomb attack kills eighteen
- Iraqi PM al-Maliki announces "decisive" offensive against al-Qaeda
- Islamic State claims attack which killed 25 police recruits in Yemen
- Israeli-Arab Hebrew University students charged with operating al-Qaeda cell
- New video shows 9/11 hijackers attending Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan
- New videotape of Ayman al-Zawahiri aired on Aljazeera
- New York man pleads guilty in New York City subway bomb plot
- Nine US troops killed in Afghanistan as Taliban attack base
- No evidence of dead terrorists in US bombed Pakistan village
- Obama decides against the release of graphic photos of bin Laden
- Obama to Muslims: 'Americans are not your enemy'
- Obama's suspension of Guantanamo repatriations criticized
- Oil falls $1.19 on news of al-Zarqawi death
- Osama bin Laden killed in U.S. operation in Pakistan, White House says
- Osama bin Laden praises martyrdom in video
- Osama bin Laden threatens retaliation if 9/11 suspects executed
- Osama bin Laden warns European Union in new audio tape
- Over 30 killed in a Baghdad restaurant bombing
- Pakistan army says scores of Islamic militants killed, captured
- Pakistan says senior al-Qaeda official killed in shootout
- Pakistan warned British intelligence about terrorist plans to bomb London
- Pakistani military launches ground offensive against Taliban and al-Qaeda
- Pakistani Official claims 'foreign terrorists' among civilians killed in U.S. airstrike
- Pakistani prime minister says Osama Bin Laden not in the country
- Pakistani Taliban threaten revenge attack after bin Laden death; CIA says retaliation is likely
- Pennsylvania man named in alleged terror plot
- Philippine President Arroyo tells business leaders security is top priority
- Prosecution to proceed with alternate witnesses in Moussaoui trial
- Saudi Arabia announces 149 al-Qaeda arrests in last eight months
- Saudi Arabia arrests over 100 people suspected of having links to al-Qaeda
- Saudi Arabia executes 47 people as 'terrorists'
- Scores killed in twin Baghdad marketplace attacks
- Scotland Yard says suicide bomb blast killed Bhutto, not bullet
- Second in command of al-Qaeda in Iraq in custody
- Second man charged in Lee Rigby murder case
- Second video of Osama bin Laden surfaces
- Senate publish report on CIA torture and misinformation
- Senior al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq killed
- Senior intelligence official suspended after leaving top secret files on train
- Six die in US-Iraqi raid in Fallujah
- Somali minister killed by car bomb
- Suicide bomb kills Iraqi police chief at site of previous attack
- Suicide bomber at US base in Afghanistan was al-Qaeda double agent
- Suicide bombers attack mosques in Sanaa, Yemen
- Suicide bombers blast two Bangladeshi cities
- Taliban leader: Osama bin Laden is "still alive" and "Taliban ready to strike Americans"
- Taliban resurgent in Pakistan on enforcement of Sharia law
- Terrorism expert says Osama Bin Laden could be dead
- Terrorist attacks in Algiers, Algeria kill 23 people and wound 162
- Three arrested in al-Qaeda bomb plot
- Three suicide bombings in Yemen kill security personnel
- Three Yemeni troops killed in shooting
- Tighten 'noose' so Osama can't operate: Obama
- Top al-Qaeda leader killed in Pakistan
- Top Zarqawi ally captured
- Transcript of 9/11 confession by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed released
- Twelve dead in shooting at offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo
- Two car bombs kill scores in Algiers, Algeria
- U.N. pulls out of southern Somalia
- U.S airstrike kills Senior Al Qaeda leader
- U.S. airstrike targeting Ayman al-Zawahiri leaves 18 dead in Pakistani village
- U.S. did not inform Pakistan of bin Laden mission because of suspicions he was being harbored by government
- U.S. issues travel alert for Europe amidst fears of Al Qaeda attack
- U.S. jury decision moves Moussaoui closer to execution
- U.S. soldiers kill 9 suspected al-Qaeda members near Baghdad
- U.S. Supreme Court requests reconsideration of habeas petitions of Gitmo captives
- U.S. warns of al Qaeda threat to stock trading and banking websites
- UK airplane bomb plotters sentenced, sent to jail
- UK loses appeal to conceal Binyam Mohamed torture
- US closes embassy in Yemen
- US Defense Secretary evaluates Iraq and the political climate
- US denies arrest of al-Masri, al-Qaeda in Iraq leader
- US drone strike kills eight in Pakistan's tribal region
- US freezes assets of suspected terrorist
- US President Obama delivers address on Afghanistan plan
- US President Trump says Osama bin Laden's son killed
- US Secretary Rice responds to European enquiries on alleged CIA prisons
- US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence finds no link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda
- US State Department accuses Iran of being top state sponsor of terrorism
- US turns security for Karbala over to Iraqi forces
- US, UK, NATO to withdraw troops from Afghanistan
- White House releases Benghazi emails
- Wikinews Shorts: April 27, 2007
- Wikinews Shorts: August 8, 2009
- Wikinews Shorts: February 10, 2012
- Wikinews Shorts: January 21, 2009
- Wikinews Shorts: March 31, 2007
- Wikinews Shorts: May 20, 2007
- Wikinews Shorts: September 3, 2008
- World leaders condemn deadly explosions in Egypt
- World leaders react to death of Osama bin Laden


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I was brought up in a liberal tradition, one of the core values of which is that one has to be fair to everyone. If one sees someone being attacked unfairly, especially if it is a friend, one wants to defend them - indeed, one can sometimes feel obliged to do so. What I now understand better is how that approach can look to someone from an oppressed minority (and whilst this post is about racism, much of what I say applies equally in terms of sexism). If I leap in to defend a white friend from what I perceive to be an attack made by a person of colour, untempered by any awareness of my own white (and male) privilege, it looks like the whites closing ranks. Suggesting that a polite and respectful tone be employed looks like white folks finding ways of shutting up uppity POCs. [Edit, 03/08/09: Ika Willis points out below that this looks like white folks finding ways of shutting up uppity POCs because it is white folks finding ways of shutting up uppity POCs.]
It's that lack of awareness of privilege which is the problem. A lot of the problem of RaceFail (and I may be wrong here, and if so, I apologize) seemed to be people getting very upset about having their behaviour described as racist. The response (and I may be caricaturing here, so again I apologize) was often "I am not and never have been a racist, and how dare you call me one!" What has happened here, I think, is the polarization of the term "racist", such that it is assumed to refer only to hooded KKK types with burning crosses and lynchings. Most white people reject that position, and are proud of dealing with people in a wholly colourblind fashion. Before RaceFail, this a view I'd have signed up to myself.
Which is all well and to the good, at least on the surface. But dig a little deeper, and I think that it's a bit naive and self-deluding. Sure, we may not go along with the British National Party's wearisome nonsense about English whites being discriminated against in their own country. But that doesn't mean that we're not capable of unthinking racism. Indeed, given that we whites (especially educated elite whites) are brought up in an implicitly racist society, whose wealth is at least partially based on profits made out of the eighteenth-century slave trade, it would be a miracle if any one of us were wholly devoid of some racist attitudes.
Here are three examples. When watching the 2006 television adaptation of Ruby in the Smoke, I remember being surprised that one role, apparently of a Victorian gentleman, was played by a black actor. My natural assumption was that Victorian gentlemen were white. I don't think that's based on exhaustive research into the period, but on the way the period has been portrayed in the culture to which I've been exposed. It is therefore a racist assumption.
Second example - my first reaction on hearing the rumour that Patterson Joseph would be the next Doctor was to think that there was something not right about that. Fortunately, I rapidly changed my mind, and realized that there was no good (i.e. non-racist) reason to object to this casting, and indeed that it was an idea whose time had more than come (and I now think it's a shame that this isn't what actually happened). But my first response was a racist one.
Finally, by coincidence, yesterday I read the section of Farah Mendlesohn & Edward James, A Short History of Fantasy, that deals with Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea novels, where the point is made that the central character, Ged, is a person of colour, but that readers hardly ever notice this. I am among those readers. Intellectually I know better, and have for some years, but this is not what I saw in my mind when I first read the novel (influenced by various covers, and illustrations for a reading of the story on Jackanory, none of which made Ged's skin colour clear), and even now it is hard for me to imagine Ged as non-white.
Now, I don't think it makes me an evil person that I have these responses. I think it just means that I'm a product of my environment. And I think it's a good thing that I recognize these responses for what they are, and reject them as guidance for my conscious actions. But it does mean that I cannot claim that I am entirely devoid of racism, and I would be a fool if I asserted that there are not responses that I do not recognize as such.
It is only through awareness, acknowledgment and addressing of our own failings in this respect that we can progress. Of course, behaving in a colourblind fashion is an ideal to which we should all aspire. But behaving in a colourblind fashion in a society which is not itself colourblind can contribute to the problem as much as to the solution. It encourages the notion that racism is in the past, and that we no longer need anti-racist legal measures (an argument often put forward by those who wish to reassert white privilege). But whilst Obama in the White House shows that things have improved, it does not demonstrate that there is no further room for improvement. This is a process that I don't expect to be completed in my lifetime, or for that matter, in the millennium.
So where does that leave the liberal concept of being fair to everyone? Still there, but slightly modified. I'm certainly not advocating placing POCs on a pedestal where their colour makes them immune from criticism. If anti-racism is about anything, it is about trying where possible to disregard race and treat someone as a human being.* (This is the mistake the Republicans made when appointing Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate - they assumed that feminists would support her because she was a woman, whereas what feminism is about, in my view at least, is disregarding the fact that someone is a woman, and assessing them as a person, on which assessment Palin came up short for many.) Human beings are sometimes wrong and sometimes unfair, and it is legitimate to call them out for it when they are. But if one is engaging as a privileged white with a POC on these grounds, one must be aware of one's own privilege. Because if one isn't, then the fairness one aspires to is spurious, because it doesn't take the full picture into account.
* And I know I've said that's not always possible, and sometimes counter-productive. Life is complicated. Get over it. [Edit, 03/08/09: an anonymous commentator rightly points out that talking about 'disregarding' race is not actually helpful. Given what I said about the colourblind approach, I should have seen this myself.]


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Freedoms We Lost
By ROBERT M. MCDOWELL
Tomorrow morning the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will mark the winter solstice by taking an unprecedented step to expand government's reach into the Internet by attempting to regulate its inner workings. In doing so, the agency will circumvent Congress and disregard a recent court ruling.
How did the FCC get here?
For years, proponents of so-called "net neutrality" have been calling for strong regulation of broadband "on-ramps" to the Internet, like those provided by your local cable or phone companies. Rules are needed, the argument goes, to ensure that the Internet remains open and free, and to discourage broadband providers from thwarting consumer demand. That sounds good if you say it fast.
Nothing is broken that needs fixing, however. The Internet has been open and freedom-enhancing since it was spun off from a government research project in the early 1990s. Its nature as a diffuse and dynamic global network of networks defies top-down authority. Ample laws to protect consumers already exist. Furthermore, the Obama Justice Department and the European Commission both decided this year that net-neutrality regulation was unnecessary and might deter investment in next-generation Internet technology and infrastructure.
Analysts and broadband companies of all sizes have told the FCC that new rules are likely to have the perverse effect of inhibiting capital investment, deterring innovation, raising operating costs, and ultimately increasing consumer prices. Others maintain that the new rules will kill jobs. By moving forward with Internet rules anyway, the FCC is not living up to its promise of being "data driven" in its pursuit of mandates—i.e., listening to the needs of the market.
It wasn't long ago that bipartisan and international consensus centered on insulating the Internet from regulation. This policy was a bright hallmark of the Clinton administration, which oversaw the Internet's privatization. Over time, however, the call for more Internet regulation became imbedded into a 2008 presidential campaign promise by then-Sen. Barack Obama. So here we are.
Last year, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski started to fulfill this promise by proposing rules using a legal theory from an earlier commission decision (from which I had dissented in 2008) that was under court review. So confident were they in their case, FCC lawyers told the federal court of appeals in Washington, D.C., that their theory gave the agency the authority to regulate broadband rates, even though Congress has never given the FCC the power to regulate the Internet. FCC leaders seemed caught off guard by the extent of the court's April 6 rebuke of the commission's regulatory overreach.
In May, the FCC leadership floated the idea of deeming complex and dynamic Internet services equivalent to old-fashioned monopoly phone services, thereby triggering price-and-terms regulations that originated in the 1880s. The announcement produced what has become a rare event in Washington: A large, bipartisan majority of Congress agreeing on something. More than 300 members of Congress, including 86 Democrats, contacted the FCC to implore it to stop pursuing Internet regulation and to defer to Capitol Hill.
Facing a powerful congressional backlash, the FCC temporarily changed tack and convened negotiations over the summer with a select group of industry representatives and proponents of Internet regulation. Curiously, the commission abruptly dissolved the talks after Google and Verizon, former Internet-policy rivals, announced their own side agreement for a legislative blueprint. Yes, the effort to reach consensus was derailed by . . . consensus.
After a long August silence, it appeared that the FCC would defer to Congress after all. Agency officials began working with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman on a draft bill codifying network management rules. No Republican members endorsed the measure. Later, proponents abandoned the congressional effort to regulate the Net.
More on Technology
Still feeling quixotic pressure to fight an imaginary problem, the FCC leadership this fall pushed a small group of hand-picked industry players toward a "choice" between a bad option (broad regulation already struck down in April by the D.C. federal appeals court) or a worse option (phone monopoly-style regulation). Experiencing more coercion than consensus or compromise, a smaller industry group on Dec. 1 gave qualified support for the bad option. The FCC's action will spark a billable-hours bonanza as lawyers litigate the meaning of "reasonable" network management for years to come. How's that for regulatory certainty?
To date, the FCC hasn't ruled out increasing its power further by using the phone monopoly laws, directly or indirectly regulating rates someday, or expanding its reach deeper into mobile broadband services. The most expansive regulatory regimes frequently started out modest and innocuous before incrementally growing into heavy-handed behemoths.
On this winter solstice, we will witness jaw-dropping interventionist chutzpah as the FCC bypasses branches of our government in the dogged pursuit of needless and harmful regulation. The darkest day of the year may end up marking the beginning of a long winter's night for Internet freedom.
Mr. McDowell is a Republican commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission.


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Viagra Jelly is indicated for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men. Viagra Jelly is a phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitor.Viagra Jelly increases blood flow to the penis allowing more blood flow into the penis like happened naturally when a man is sexually stimulated. With more blood flowing in and less flowing out, the arteries in the penis enlarge resulting erection.
Use Viagra Jelly as directed by your doctor.
- Take Viagra Jelly by mouth with or without food. Viagra Jelly may not work as quickly if you take it with a high-fat meal.
- Viagra Jelly is usually taken about 1 hour before sexual activity; however, it may be taken anywhere from 4 hours to a half hour before sexual activity. Talk with your doctor about the best way to take Viagra Jelly.
- Viagra Jelly can help you have an erection when sexual stimulation occurs. An erection will not occur just by taking a pill.
- Do not take more than the recommended dose or take it more often than once daily, or as directed by your doctor.
- If you miss a dose of Viagra Jelly and you still intend to engage in sexual activity, take it as soon as you remember. Continue to take it as directed by your doctor.
Ask your health care provider any questions you may have about how to use Viagra Jelly.
Store Viagra Jelly at 77 degrees F (25 degrees C). Brief storage at temperatures between 59 and 86 degrees F (15 and 30 degrees C) is permitted. Store away from heat, moisture, and light. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep Viagra Jelly out of the reach of children and away from pets.
Active Ingredient: Sildenafil citrate.


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Thursday, March 19, 2015
[Mixtape] Murc Heist (@MurcHeist) - 2nd Coming hosted by @BiggaRankin00
Murc Heist (@MurcHeist) aka "Murcavelli" grew up on the streets of Bessemer, AL., learning to hustle and survive. Murc was rappin' b the time he was 9 and skipping school by the age of 15. With the encouragement of friends and the support of his brother P-Nut, Murc began to ddevelop his skills as a lyricist and artist. P-Nut and Murc formed Murc Camp Music and they started making mixtapes, which led to shows in Detroit, Canada, Florida, Memphis, Atlanta, and everywhere in between. Then suddenly, Murc and the Camp were rocked by the death of P-Nut. but this did not deter him, in fact it only motivated Murc to work even harder to finish what he began with his brother.
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NEWS - Tuesday, July 11, 2006
New Vids and Screens of Call of Duty 3!!!
The follow-up to the #1 next-generation game, Call of Duty 3 delivers the intensity of being closer than ever to the fury of combat during the Normandy Breakout, the historic campaign that made the liberation of Paris possible and brought the Allies a step closer to Berlin. Through a seamless narrative that delivers the rush of unrelenting battle and breathtaking action, players assume the roles of four ordinary Allied soldiers—American, British, Canadian and Polish—and are thrust onto an authentic, living battlefield for an unprecedented variety of combat, with advanced high-definition graphics, detailed character animations and explosive on-screen action, delivering the most immersive and cinematically intense war experience ever.Source: http://www.activision.com


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By BARBARA ORTUTAY
Bowing — perhaps only for a moment — to pressure from lawmakers, critics, the media and child development experts, Facebook said Monday it will "pause" its work on a kids' version of its photo and video-oriented Instagram app.
But what's not yet clear is just how seriously Facebook is taking the concerns of experts and parents. Its decision to merely pause the project suggests it still plans to expose a much younger audience to Instagram, its well-documented harms and possibly the user profiling that feeds Facebook's targeted ad machine. That ad machine, of course, has made the company one of the most profitable on the planet.
The company's move follows an explosive mid-September report by The Wall Street Journal that found Facebook knew from its own research that Instagram was harming some teems, especially girls, leading to mental health and body image problems and in some cases eating disorders and suicidal thoughts.
In public, however, Facebook has consistently played down the app's negative side and until now has barreled ahead with the kids' version despite alarms from experts, lawmakers and its own research. It has also relentlessly criticized the Journal article as cherry-picking from Facebook's research, though it did not dispute the facts. That story, however, was based on internal research leaked by a whistleblower at the company.
It's likely not a coincidence that on Thursday, a panel of the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing examining the "toxic effects" of Facebook and Instagram on young people. It's the latest of several hearings to look at whether Big Tech companies are hiding what they know about the harms their products cause.
Facebook has very specifically not said that it will abandon the project. Instead, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said in a blog post Monday that the company will use its pause time "to work with parents, experts and policymakers to demonstrate the value and need for this product."
Translation: Expect Facebook to sharpen its message on the "benefits" of Instagram for Kids in hopes that the furor will die down.
Consider that Facebook had already said it was working with parents, experts and policymakers back in July when it introduced safety measures for teens on its main Instagram platform. In fact, the company has been "working with" experts and other advisors for another product aimed at children — its Messenger Kids app that launched in late 2017.
"Critics of Instagram Kids' will see this as an acknowledgement that the project is a bad idea," Mosseri wrote. "That's not the case."
Four years ago, Facebook said it gathered a group of experts in the fields of online safety, child development and children's media to "share their expertise, research and guidance." The group it calls Youth Advisors include some well-known and some lesser-known nonprofit groups, including the Family Online Safety Institute, Digital Wellness Lab, MediaSmarts, Project Rockit and the Cyberbullying Research Center.
All of these groups receive some form of funding from Facebook, according to their websites. Meanwhile, some of the best-known children's online advocacy groups — and Facebook's biggest critics on this matter — such as Common Sense Media and Fairplay (formerly known as the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood) are notably absent.
Critics acknowledge that many of the cooperative experts mean well, but say their influence has been negligible. "Facebook has shown time and time again that it is incapable of governing or advising itself with any integrity," said Kyle Taylor, program director for the Real Facebook Oversight Board, a group critical of the social network. "Facebook's funding of research and civil society is hugely problematic, and prevents the kind of direct, open process that is required for any real change to occur."
When Facebook seeks feedback for its projects, Taylor added, "the decks are always stacked with experts who have a financial interest or who will never criticize Facebook's core issues – their algorithm and their profit margin."
Fairplay executive director Josh Golin argues that Instagram for Kids may have already sunk beneath the waves. The "pause,"′ he said, is a good way for Facebook to save face and hope that after a while people will forget about it.
He acknowledges that his group and other advocates failed to pressure Facebook into canceling its kids' messaging product, but says Instagram for Kids is different.
"Instagram is a much much worse platform for children" than Messenger, he said, noting Facebook's own internal research and a "wealth of evidence" supporting this point. The climate has also changed since 2017 and 2018, when the "techlash" against Big Tech's harmful effects on society was just emerging. Now, it's in full force and much more organized. Finally, there's tech product inertia.
"With Messenger Kids, the backlash didn't start until it had already came out," he said. "It is much easier for a corporation to walk back a product that doesn't yet exist than to take a product off the market,"
Facebook, of course, is not the only tech platform whose products have caused ripples of concern about the well-being of children. And creating kids' versions in the face of these concerns is a popular response. After getting in trouble with U.S. regulators for violating children's privacy rules, for instance, TikTok created a "limited, separate app experience" for users who are under 13. They can't share videos, comment on other people's videos or message people. But as with any other app, if kids enter a fake birthdate when they register with the app, they can get around that provision.
YouTube has a kids version too. Lawmakers earlier this year called it a "wasteland of vapid consumerist content" and launched an investigation that's still ongoing.
AP Technology Writer Tali Arbel contributed to this story.
FILE – This Friday, Aug. 23, 2019, file photo shows the Instagram app icon on the screen of a mobile device in New York. Bowing to pressure from lawmakers, critics, the media and child development experts, Facebook said Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, it will "pause" its work on a kids' version of its photo-oriented Instagram app. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)


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The delivery scope of Peikko consists of foundation design, detailed quality and installation instructions as well as anchoring components.
The customer of the project is Finnish energy company TuuliWatti Oy. YIT is responsible for the planning and construction of the foundations in the project. Peikko's foundation solution is supplied to five of the ten wind turbine towers to be built in Tervola. The turbines are 3 MW units and the hub height of 140 meters. Peikko's first deliveries to the site take place in May and June 2012.
The Tervola wind farm located in Lapland is the first of its kind in Finland. The power plant has been designed and developed with Vestas V112 wind turbines, specifically for lower wind conditions on land. The construction of the Tervola wind farm has been funded by Nordea Bank Finland, with other partners being turbine supplier Vestas, project management and electrification Empower, and the foundations being built by YIT.


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'Chandigarh to host the biggest higher education conclave for North India'
Chandigarh [India]: HEC – Higher Education Conclave (a three-day event) by Silver Fern is a concoction of The Learned and The Learning. This one of its kind education fair is replete with students, school and college counselors, Delegates from international universities, English PTE Trainers, and anyone and everyone associated with the field of education. The event is being hosted at Hyatt Regency, Chandigarh, with the theme of "Decoding future in the times of change"
Kickstarting the first edition of the event on 18th November is Silver Fern, an already established name in the education industry guiding students with their international education for twelve years now. Their team of experts has successfully assisted nearly 12,000 students to study at their desired universities and colleges to date.
"If distinguished education is your dream, then we are the artists''– Almasto Kapoor (CEO, Silver Fern)
Breaking the traditional ceiling of classroom education with his dream of taking education a step ahead, HEC conclave is a big leap in that direction. Students espouse such events and an event of such magnitude will facilitate accretion in their intellectual being.
Harboring everyone under one roof, Silver Fern plans on making HEC an annual tradition working assiduously to make it as prolific as it can be.
'Education translates aspirations into reality.' – Shivam Garg (Chief operating officer and Partner, Silver Fern)
Looking forward to the participation of 40 university delegates, including some of the most prestigious institutions from across the globe, domestic universities like OP Jindal, engagement from five universities ranking in the top 100 QS rankings in the world, 14 plus schools, an event of this magnitude will help grow the education industry holistically. It is a perceptible opportunity to interact with 40 global colleges and universities in one place. There are a host of reasons for everyone to grace this event with their presence; One of them being able to get upto 100 percent scholarship opportunities from leading public universities globally is the biggest of them all in addition to the participation of certain institutes like the Fraser Valley, India and University of Fraser Valley, offering transfer programs to foreign lands. Laced with all the big guns, this event will also witness the participation of South Asia's biggest online platform for education, Vedantu as the partner of the event.
An education fair brightening the day followed by a networking dinner gracing the night is on the agenda of HEC. Ameliorating the event are education workshops for students crammed with English PTE trainers' sagacity and experience. A single platform brimming with university delegates (international as well as domestic), all the people associated with the field of education in the Northern region, a plethora of students and educators, senior management of schools, under one roof is the epitome of the biggest education conclave of northern India.
Each participant is assured of a certificate and better-enhanced skills in their respective fields post the event.
HEC holds the promise of having a perennial effect on the education front with its conference catering to all the needs of an education fair and even beyond. It is the biggest platform to plan one's higher education progression.
Latticed with global participation, the influence of the experts, and young minds wanting to be nurtured with the nectar of wisdom, HEC sounds like a clarion call for all those who want to immerse themselves in this enduring journey of education.


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Dolce & Gabbana Bag
Absolutely stunning, 100% Authentic, brand new with tags Dolce & Gabbana multicolor unisex travel style bag. This amazing bag is made in linen and leather. This item comes from the exclusive MainLine Dolce & Gabbana collection.
Model: Travel bag
Gender: UNISEX
Material: 80% Linen, 20% Leather
Color: Beige, brown and green with gold metal hardware
Strap: Two handles, one removeable and adjustable shoulder strap
Full zipper closure
Inside pocket with zipper closure
Logo details, logo engraved metal hardware
Made in Italy
Measurements: 48cm x 26cm x 24cm
Strap: adjustable up to 160cm
Original tags, authenticity card, & store bag follow with this item.


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2017 Oscar Winners: See the Complete List!
Well, that was a hell of an ending.
After months of hype and controversy, the big night arrived. The red carpet was rolled out, the votes were cast, and host Jimmy Kimmel delivered about a million best Matt Damon jokes. At last, the 89th Academy Awards arrived. And they ended with an conclusion so shocking it rivaled any in this year's nominees. When we posted our list of winners at the beginning of the night we said there could be surprises. Little did we know how right we'd be.
That's because Warren Beatty announced La La Land was this year's Best Picture winner. But moments later, while the team behind La La Land were still giving their acceptance speeches, Kimmel, Beatty, and Academy Awards producers rushed the stage to say that a mistake had been made. Moonlight was, in fact, the Best Picture winner. Beatty explained that he had been given the envelope for Best Actress, which was why he'd taken such a long pause before announcing the winner.
It was a wild ending to a night that was otherwise fairly predictable. La La Land won six awards, including Best Director and Best Actress. Manchester by the Sea's Casey Affleck topped Fences' Denzel Washington in the year's most hotly debated race. Both Supporting categories went to their predicted winners: Mahershala Ali for Moonlight and Viola Davis for Fences.
Here's the full list of winners (at least until they reveal that actually Hacksaw Ridge won all along). Congrats to all the winners, and to the team behind La La Land for being gracious in defeat in incredible circumstances.
Best Picture
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight - WINNER
Best Director
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle, La La Land - WINNER
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Best Actor
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea - WINNER
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Actress
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land - WINNER
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight - WINNER
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel, Lion
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, Fences - WINNER
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Best Original Screenplay
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou, The Lobster
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea - WINNER
Mike Mills, 20th Century Women
Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Best Adapted Screenplay
Luke Davies, Lion
Eric Heisserer, Arrival
Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight - WINNER
Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures
August Wilson, Fences
Best Cinematography
Greg Fraser, Lion
James Laxton, Moonlight
Rodrigo Prieto, Silence
Linus Sandgren, La La Land - WINNER
Bradford Young, Arrival
Best Animated Feature
Kubo and the Two Strings
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia - WINNER
Best Documentary Feature
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America - WINNER
Best Film Editing
Hacksaw Ridge - WINNER
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Best Visual Effects
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book - WINNER
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Best Production Design
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land - WINNER
Best Original Score
La La Land - WINNER
Best Foreign Language Film
Land of Mine (Denmark)
A Man Called Ove (Sweden)
The Salesman (Iran) - WINNER
Tanna (Australia)
Toni Erdmann (Germany)
Best Costume Design
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - WINNER
Florence Foster Jenkins
La La Land
Best Makeup/Hairstyling
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad - WINNER
Best Original Song
"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)," La La Land
"Can't Stop This Feeling!," Trolls
"City of Stars," La La Land - WINNER
"The Empty Chair," Jim: The James Foley Story
"How Far I'll Go," Moana
Best Sound Editing
Arrival - WINNER
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Best Sound Mixing
Hacksaw Ridge - WINNER
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Best Documentary Short
"4.1 Miles"
"Joe's Violin"
"Watani: My Homeland"
"The White Helmets" - WINNER
Best Live-Action Short
"Ennemis Interieurs"
"La Femme et le TGV"
"Silent Nights"
"Sing" - WINNER
Best Animated Short
"Blind Vaysha"
"Borrowed Time"
"Pear Cider and Cigarettes"
"Piper" - WINNER


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