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Extremadura is one of those places you want everyone to know about, but also want to have entirely to yourself.
Nestled between Madrid and Andalusia, it's an oft-overlooked part of Spain and not easy to explore without a car. Rich in history, the western plains of Spain were home to the largest and most powerful Roman cities in Hispania, as well as the birthplace of the conquistadores who conquered much of Latin and South America. This legacy has been left in the jewels littered throughout the comunidad autónoma in Guadalupe's sprawling monastery, the monument-rich Cáceres and Roman Mérida.
In many ways, spending time in Extremadura can make you feel like time has stopped, but even Spaniards look at it with disdain, citing poor transportation links and a lack of things to do. Just like Americans can't place Iowa on a map, Extemadura to many Spaniards is a corner of Spain that serves as a gateway to Portugal and Andalucía, and little else.
When a free weekend came up in July, I called up two friends in Sevilla and one in Madrid, and we met in the middle. The town of Trujillo is equidistant between the capital of Spain and the capital of Andalusia, and an easy jaunt on the A-5 highway that connects the southwest of Spain and central Portugal to Madrid.
Follow the trail of the Conquistadores
Name any conqueror from the 16th Century. Save a select few, the big names all came from Extremadura – Pizarro, Núñez de Balboa, Hernán Cortés. Loyal to the Spanish crown, they claimed a sizeable chunks of land, changing the course of history and effectively bringing the Spanish language, culture and communicable diseases to the New World.
Ever drawn the conclusion that of South America's great cities are named for Spanish towns? Most of those pueblos, like Medellín or even Trujillo, are extremeño towns. On my first trip to Extremadura, a lifelong extremeña told me that the name of her comunidad autónoma came from these mean from the far-lying (extre) provinces whose lives were hardened on the western plains (madura). Take it for what you will, but extremeños have since been known for their gumption.
The cornerstone of an already gorgeous main square, the Plaza Mayor de Trujillo, the Palacio de la Conquista's erection was financed largely in part by the riches Pizarro brought back from Peru. It sits at the bottom of a hill that is crowned by a crumbling alcazaba, and the stone mansions and plazas that tumble down are of note.
It's honestly one of the most beautiful villages I've been to in Spain, and I've been to a lot.
Many of the palaces have since been converted into hotels and restaurants, but a morning walk will allow you to see the highlights. Aside from whether or not they pillaged or brought disease, the architectural legacy is staggering. Oh, and Pizarro reputedly brought over a Spanish food staple – tomatoes.
If you want to go further afield and have a car, Trujillo is about equidistant to Cáceres and Mérida, the administrative capital of Extremadura. The Tourism Board suggests the Ruta de los Descubridores, which traces from Plasencia to Trujillo before heading west to Cáceres. Continuing south, you'll get to Villanueva de la Serena, Medellīn and Mérida; the outpost of Badajóz is a bit further out but is the last stop.
Day trips to Guadalupe and Yuste / the Jerte Valley
My first go at Trujillo was at the hand of a contest won by Trujillo Villas. We had a long weekend, a car and plenty of time to kill on our way up the A-66. Turning off at Valdivia, a small suburb of Villanueva de la Serena (surprise! home to conquistador Pedro de Valdivia), the road snakes into the foothills towards the town of Guadalupe and the Monasterio de Santa María de Guadalupe.
According to legend, the veneration may have been carved in the 1st Century by Saint Luke himself, who then carted her around the world before presenting the Archbishop of Seville, San Leandro, with it. During the Moorish invasion that commenced in 711, the Archdiocese of Seville looked for a place to hide her as invaders ransacked cities and palaces.
Like all great pilgrimage sites, like the ending points of the Camino de Santiago or El Rocío, Guadalupe has attracted illustrious names in Spanish history – Columbus prayed here after returning from the New World (and the Madonna is now revered in Central and South America), King Alfonso XI invoked Guadalupe's spirit during the Battle of Salado, and many modern-day popes have stopped to worship. It's even one of Spain's UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is well-deserving of the nod. Seriously. Do not miss this one.
Further north and part of the Sierra de Gredos lie a number of small hamlets that look like they belong in Shakespeare's novels than rural Spain. The Gargantas, or a series of natural pools in the foothills, and its largest town, Garganta la Olla, is worth a few hours' walk to stretch your legs and lunch.
Just 10 minutes northeast of Garganta la Olla is the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste, one of Spain's patrimonial highlights and where Holy Roman Emporer Charles V retired to live out his days. Formerly inhabited by Hieronymite and boasting picturesque views of the almond tree-covered countryside it's no wonder he made the treacherous trip from Madrid to Yuste (and El Escorial wouldn't be ordered to be built for another five years anyway).
While it was a disappointment to us with pushy tour guides and a steep price tag, the drive through almond trees in bloom and waterfalls was worth the extra kilometers.
Other towns you might want to explore are Zafra, south of Mérida, and Jerez de los Caballeros. Or, really any town with a castle.
Extremadura prides itself on its food – from hearty game and foul and some of the best jamón ibérico de bellota to Torta del Casar, the notoriously stinky cheese (believe me when I saw it smells like feet). Famous for its sweet, smoked paprika and hearty, little-consumed wines. For its sweets and earthy breads. Characterized by its simplicity and complexity (like all great Spanish dishes), you can eat on the cheap just about anywhere in the region.
In a small city like Trujillo, there are few options. I had been to famed Casa Troya, a locale famous for its location on the Plaza Mayor and its patronage, on a previous visit and was not ready to return. The first night, restless but tired after our early wake up calls for work and the drive, we settled on Hermanos Marcelo in the square for their croquetas and plenty of helpings of embutidos, or cured meats.
On Saturday morning, we were able to sneak on a last-minute tour of Bodegas Habla, located just to the south of the village.
In operation from 1999, Bodegas Habla is one of the newest and most innovative wineries in all of Spain – and it produces a table wine that can be drunk as if it was a special occasion. I don't pretend to know anything about wine other than that it's made from grapes and I like it less than beer, but I bought into the energy, the marketing and the experience of Habla.
The tour and tasting cost 13€, which included four wines – their signature Habla del Silencio, Rita, Habla de tí and a limited edition 13. You can contact the Bodega at email@example.com for more information and availability.
While there is parking on-site, please consider finding a designated driver or calling a local taxi. We opted for the latter and, true to his word, he came back in two hours for us and dropped us right off at the restaurant La Alberca.
Perhaps Trujillo's biggest draw is their Feria del Queso de Trujillo, an artisan fair dedicated solely to cheese. Held around May 1st each year, around 200,000 people are drawn to the Plaza Mayor for activities and tastings centered around goat and sheep cheeses. Area restaurants create special menus in which local cheeses are the main feature. Considering how much I love cheese, I'm shocked I haven't made it there yet.
Where to eat in Trujillo?
If you're spending any time in Trujillo, skip Casa Troya and make sure to make a reservation at La Alberca (C/Cambrones, 8). Between the stone walls and the breezy patio, plus a selection of wines from the region – D.O. Tierra de Barro is a great choice if you're feeling adventurous or want something hearty – this place delivered on food, service and experience. We got away with about 18€ a head.
The Takeaway
I first saw Trujillo driving up to Valladolid with the Novio after about four months living in Seville. The fortress seemed to appear out of nowhere in the middle of the plains, and I pressed my nose to the window to see it from all angles. It may be small, but it packs that distinctly Spanish punch: the wine, the food and the cultural legacy make it worthy of stopping for a night or if you're en route to Cáceres. In fact, put Extremadura in general on your list.
Have you been to Trujillo and Extremadura? Anything I missed on this list?
Here's a little plug for our super cute AirBnB with two terraces and gorgeous views down to the Plaza Mayor. We seriously loved this place so much that we decided to not even go out but just drink wine and play boardgames! It's a gem and you can park nearby.


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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Roughly 4 in 10 Americans say they're still feeling the financial impact of the loss of a job or some of their income within their household as the economic recovery remains uneven one year into the coronavirus pandemic.
The new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research provides further evidence that the pandemic has been devastating for some Americans, while leaving others virtually unscathed or even in better shape, at least when it comes to their finances.
The poll shows that about half of Americans say they have experienced at least one form of household income loss during the pandemic, including 25% who have experienced a household layoff and 31% who say someone in the household was scheduled for fewer hours.
Overall, 44% said their household experienced income loss from the pandemic that is still having an impact on their finances. And about 30% of Americans say their current household income is lower than it was when the pandemic began.
The pandemic has particularly hurt Black and Latino households, as well as young Americans, who are now going through their second major economic crisis of their adult lives.
The poll's findings reflect what some economists have called a "K-shaped recovery," where there have been divergent fortunes among Americans. Those with office jobs were able to transition to working from home while those who worked in hard-hit industries such as entertainment, dining, travel and other industries have continued to struggle.
The poor have struggled to recover financially compared to the wealthy and Black and Latino households have not bounced back as well as their white counterparts.
Thirty-eight percent of Hispanics and 29% of Black Americans have experienced a layoff in their household at some point during the past year, compared with 21% of white Americans.
The AP-NORC poll of 1,434 adults was conducted Feb. 25-March 1 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

subset: commoncrawl


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Joseph Grundfest
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
W. A. Franke Professor of Law and Business, Emeritus
Stanford Law School
Joseph A. Grundfest, JD '78, is a nationally prominent expert on capital markets, corporate governance, and securities litigation. His scholarship has been published in the Harvard, Yale, and Stanford law reviews, and he has been recognized as one of the most influential attorneys in the United States. Professor Grundfest founded the award-winning Stanford Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, which provides detailed, online information about the prosecution, defense, and settlement of federal class action securities fraud litigation. He launched Stanford Law School's executive education programs and continues to co-direct Directors' College, the nation's leading venue for the continuing professional education of directors of publicly traded corporations. He is also a senior faculty member with the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance. Additionally, he is co-founder and director of Financial Engines and a director of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co.
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1990, Professor Grundfest was a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, served on the staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisors as counsel and senior economist for legal and regulatory matters, and was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Early in his career he was a research associate at the Brookings Institution and an economist and consultant with the RAND Corporation.
Focal Areas: Money and Finance, Regulation and Competition


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A travel sewing kit. Truthfully I don't really know what these things are for (i guess just in case you lose a button??) nor have I ever used one BUT I did think that I could make a cuter container for it - because if you are going to bring it with you on a trip it might as well be cute!
Tutorial (click on the photo to enlarge):
1. For this project I used a small jewelry gift box that I also found at the dollar store (because I didn't like the plastic half clear half blue box it came in). Measure the bottom of the box and the sides and cut a piece of paper slightly larger than their sum. (I cut larger so I can trim off excess - better than cutting it too small!)
2. Adhere the bottom of the box to the middle of the paper. Make sure to adhere to the side you don't want showing! I used gel medium (mod podge would work also) to adhere the paper to the box and also put a coat on top (after inking) to seal.
3. Cut slits in the paper as shown in the picture.
4. Adhere the long sides first, wrapping the paper around the short sides. Trim off any excess.
5. Adhere the short sides. Trim off any excess.
6. Repeat with the top of the box and ink all the edges with Rusty Hinge Distress ink.
5. Embellish the top as desired and fill with your sewing kit!
I hope you are enjoying my week of Dollar Store crafts - only one day left! If this is your first time at my blog - Welcome! I would love for you to become a follower of my blog or facebook page! (see link on right side of my blog!) And be sure to check out my etsy shop here.
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JDunn jalisco_004.jpg
Mexico, Jalisco, Guadalajara, May 20-23, 2011. From museums to mariachi, three days based in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, allows a taste of Jalisco's many cultural offerings. Day trips from the city center include tequila distillery tours, relaxing in the shade of centuries-old haciendas, and the cool water of Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest, with its indigenous towns, craft fairs and quiet lakeside communities. Multimedia and more at www.mexicoculturalcalendar.com
- Copyright
- Jay Dunn. Reproduction or transmission of this copyrighted image is prohibited without written consent. Manipulation or publication in any form of this material without permission from the artist or representing agencies will be prosecuted.
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- 3872x2592 / 5.2MB
- Keywords
Mexico, Mexican, Mexico Cultural Calendar, Latin, Latino, Hispanic, Spanish, Catholic, Catholicism, faith, belief, prayer, worship, Jalisco, Guadalajara, Tequila, agave, blue agave, La Cofradia, Chapala, Mezcala, Huichol, mariachi, indigenous, ethnic, faith, belief, prayer, worship, religion, ceremony, rite, ritual, culture, tradition, cultural tradition, Jay Dunn, documentary, multimedia, travel, photographer, photography, photojournalist, photojournalism
- Contained in galleries
- Mexico: "Three Days in Jalisco" Jay Dunn


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Riley Steele – Babe of the Day
Before Riley Steele got her big break in the adult film industry, she worked at a Starbucks as a barista and at a golf course snack bar. We bet she had a lot of regular customers.
In 2005, she met porn performer Jesse Jane, the person who told her to get into the industry. The rest is sexy-ass history. Since then, she's won over 20 awards for her work and has definitely won the attention and loyalty of many fans.
Now you can become a fan by checking out her (very, very, very NSFW) Twitter and official website.


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Q: Is 398,546 a Palindrome?
A: No, the number 398,546 is not a palindrome.
A palindromic number is number that remains the same when its digits are reversed.
Here's how to check if a number is a palindrome:
Step 1
Take the original number and reverse it.
Here is the original number color coded:
Now we reverse it like this:
Notice the colors are going in the opposite direction now
Step 2
Compare the two numbers. If they are exactly the same then the number is a palindrome.
Is 398546 = 645893?
NO, so that means the number 398,546 is not a palindrome!
Here are more examples of potential palindrome numbers in sequence:


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Crochet With Friends Aluminum Crochet Hook - K - 6.5 mm
Crochet With Friends Aluminum Crochet Hook in an ergonomic design for easy crocheting. This lightweight hook easily glides through your yarn to make your crochet project a pleasure to make.
Picture shows different sizes available and color of hook. This is not a set, but for an individual hook.
We accept, checks, purchase orders and all major credit cards
Low Prices and Worldwide Free or Discounted Shipping


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Whether you're looking for the best way to get around the city or traveling to destinations outside of Seville transportation is one of the most important (and often confusing) items to get a handle on. I'll cover the basics of transportation in Seville below. First is how to get around Seville and then how to get in and out of Seville with regional transportation. Along the way I'll try to offer some helpful hints on how to best use each method. This section has been updated on October 2011, with a few more updates to come!
Almost all of the tourist sites in the center are best reached by walking. For much of the city center you can apply the rule of walking will get you there faster than waiting for some bus to take you. I recommend taking a map, especially when you are in Barrio Santa Cruz. But a map also comes in handy in most of the historic center of Seville where very few streets follow a straight line. Beware that many maps often "straighten" the streets anyway, as in, "hmmm.. this map makes it look like the street is at a right angle, but here it goes off to the left and I don't see a street sign with the name..". This can make things a bit challenging if you don't have a very good sense of direction. I have seen many tourists at intersections with a map looking very confused.
During late spring and the summer the shade is coveted and the experienced walkers will cross the street to seek it out while getting around the city. The city government stretches toldos, or tarps, across the buildings in the center so many of the streets always have shade - a great idea that keeps the shopping district busy through the hottest days. The shops also keep their doors open to let the air conditioning run into the streets. You'll notice a good difference in temperature even if this practice is a conservationist's nightmare.
When walking in the city take note of a few observations:
Sevilla is relatively flat and you'll have a hard time finding a hill. That makes for easy biking if you don't take the situation on the roads into consideration. I would recommend using some type of protective head gear. Maybe it's my mom talking, but between the cars, buses, scooters and pedestrians, safely navigating the streets can be difficult. A few suggestions if you plan to buy a bike, or ship one over with you:
You can't help but notice the increase in bike paths all around the city center. Once the tranvia gets moving pedestrians may feel like they're in Amsterdam, trying to dodge all sorts of traffic (bike, car, tram and bus). Seriously, it should not be that bad, and I think this is a good development. Now the city has bikes to go with the bike paths, and at a very reasonable rate. For residents there is now a 25 Euro annual fee, and any time you rent the bike you have up to 30 minutes free. Then 50 cents per half hour after that. For visitors it is also possible to rent for a week or just a day. You need a credit card and in the case of short term rentals you can sign up on the spot at the kiosks located next to the bike racks. For resident passes you can sign up online. The system will freeze or debit 150 Euros from your credit card / bank account when you take it off the rack. The money should be instantly back in your account when you lock it back up. There have been instances where the money is not returned immediately but it seems to be a rare occurence.
Some great places to ride your bike include along the river where there is a path for bikers, joggers and the likes; the expo grounds, which are fairly deserted; Parque Maria Luisa and Parque Alamillo just across from the bridge by the same name. A rent a bike service I can recommend is run by Carlos Amarillo, called rentabikesevilla.com. They rent small, foldable bikes which are ideal for fitting into small places if you want to bring it on the bus or store it in your hotel room. They have home/hotel delivery, suggested routes and even offer a tour of the city with a bilingual guide if you are interested. If you want to get out and do some mountain or road biking in Andalucia, especially around Granada, check out bikingandalucia.com.
If you want to get places quicker, avoid the hassles of parking and don't mind spending a little money then a scooter, or moto, may be a solution for you. You get great gas mileage as well! I would not recommend Sevilla as a place for learning to ride a moto as traffic and narrow streets tend to push your driving limits. If you are familiar with riding a moto and have spent some time in a European city using one then I suppose Sevilla is not that difficult. Do be aware that there is a helmet law in effect and the police will fine you for not using one. You will also need insurance for a moto, although for a ciclomotor you don't need a driver's license (it all has to do with the cylinders the moto has), which makes it a popular choice for those who don't want to pay for classes and go through the hassle of getting a license.
The drivers or riders of motos in Sevilla are famous for their "flexible" attitude regarding the laws of the road. Red lights for many don't mean they really have to stop, and you will often see people on motos sneaking through them. There is also a tendency to weave through traffic, either to make one's way to the front of the line at a light or simply moving through traffic which is going slow. In witnessing these habits I wonder why there are not more serious accidents on motos. You are of course not obligated to perform any of these acts but you will certainly see them.
Buses are the easiest and cheapest way to get around Seville if you're going a little further. If you plan to use them a lot buy a bónobus at a kiosco (newsstand) or estanco (tobacco shop). If you plan to be here for a month and use the bus a lot, you may wish to purchase a monthly pass, or an abono 30 días. The bus network is comprised of circular (C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4 buses) and line routes (north, south, east and west). You can catch most city buses in one of four locations below. Note that Plaza Nueva is no longer an option due to the work to convert Avda Constitución and the plaza into pedestrian zones
Stops are also easy to find on the main avenues. So how much does the bus cost? That depends on how you purchase a pass. Below is a breakdown of the prices as of late 2011. You can only purchase a pass with or without transbordo, or transfer. Reduced fair or free passes also exist for the elderly, young or unemployed. The airport bus is 2,40€ and can be caught every 30 minutes by the Prado de San Sebastian bus station, which is the most central location (see section below for more information on airport transportation). Tussam, the city bus service, recently implemented the use of plastic or card type multi passes. These passes have a deposit of 1,50 € which can be refunded if you turn the pass back in after use. The prices below do not include this deposit.
A few other helpful hints when you decide to ride the buses in Seville:
The first thing to mention is the tram's route, which connects Plaza Nueva with the Prado de San Sebastian bus station, with a total of 1.3 km. The second portion of the line opened in 2011 going all the way to Viapol, connecting the tram to the San Bernardo train station and making the tram much more practical. The stops, from the center going further out, are:
You can purchase single trip tickets at any of the stops using ATM like machines. The price per single trip is 1,30 Euro. In a bit of rational thinking and planning the tram uses the same ticket system as the city bus lines, allowing a few advantages:
The future, and in my opinion the success, of the tram will be in extending the route. The recent expansion to San Bernardo is a good start. Original and rumored plans had the tram connecting to Santa Justa train station - practical in bringing visitors to the city center with public transport - as well as crossing through the central shopping district all the way to Santa Catalina. This would be practical in connecting my house to the route (ok, this is just for me). But it could be really practical in offering a public transport option through the center where bus and taxi options are no longer ideal. Less practical: perhaps disturbing pedestrian areas which don't seem to have enough space to accommodate the tram. Many merchants and center city residents would kill me for saying this, but I think construction should begin now!
Seville's metro is just one line, Linea 1, and the main use if you are a tourist would be to get to the San Bernardo train station. Although you can do the same using the tram which is cheaper and you don't have to bother with descending several stories below to catch it. What the metro does well is connect many of the outlying neighborhoods as well as the University of Pablo Olavide. What it does poorly in my opinion is not work with the city bus and tram passes. In fact the Metro in many cases is quite expensive and the pass system makes you study a map and determine how many saltos you have to travel (salto = zone).
We'll concentrate on the immediate city limits for the moment with these stops:
You can purchase tickets in the station (underground level) using several automated machines, although the process is not always clear depending on where you want to go.
By now you see I get confused with the Metro. Its not so hard but they've done their best to make it expensive and less user friendly for first time users than any other public transport in Seville. Once we have the second and third lines maybe the practicalities will outweigh the pain in the #&% that it is for me personally.
Taxis are another way to get around, although a little more expensive than the bus. When hailing a cab look for the green light on top meaning the taxi is free. Most are fairly new and offer enough room for two with plenty of luggage. If you need a van or larger taxi you can generally secure one by calling ahead. Likewise, if you need a taxi for the airport very early in the morning my recommendation is to call the night before and make a reservation (see the telephone numbers below). Many of my short cab rides cost between 3,50 - 6€ for two people. For a taxi to / from the airport there is a flat rate in effect: 21,27€ during weekdays and 23,72€ during holidays, Sundays or nights between 21:00 - 07:00 (info as of October 2011).Taxis can be found in the main plazas of the center in designated taxi stands if you can't hail one on the street. The best locations for finding a taxi are:
A few more helpful hints for taxis:
First and foremost is just how far from Seville are the various cities and towns you may want to visit. The distances below are approximate:
Some notes about the list of destinations below:


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NOT SO CRAZY Blender called Insane Clown Posse the worst group of all time, but they bank millions.
Depraved hip-hop is the biggest thing to hit trailer-trash America since sliced meds — and not just in redneck pockets, where rap music hardly reached before, but in suburban enclaves where acts like Twiztid and Tech N9ne sell out shows with ease. Around New England, crypt-hop champions including Q-Strange of Providence and Zombie Death Squad out of Boston have disregarded civility for years. "We talk about what people fear most: death and getting beaten the fuck up," says ZDS' Ricky Mortis, who on disc describes himself as "clinically depressed, vexed, and drowning in stress." "But this isn't on some thug shit — I just like songs about guns, drugs, sex, violence, and porn." Adds Lateb, of the Squad: "Who doesn't?" Horrorcore is what happens when wayward punks salute Ice Cube and Alice Cooper. Fixated on bloodlust and savage carnal revelry, the morbid hip-hop subgenre (along with such similar variations as death rap and acid rap) is fisting the nation deeper than most parents will be comfortable with. Insane Clown Posse (ICP), famously mocked by Blender as the worst group of all-time, outlived that particular tormenter, and they continue to bank millions from music and merchandise sales. Hip-hop is dead, as crypt-hop's mega-sales attest — just ask the 500-plus who crowded Lupo's in the spring for a Tech N9ne show or the 1000-plus war-painted trenchcoat mobsters who swelled Worcester Palladium for an ICP opera October 18. "People are fucking bored," continues Mortis. "When you live in a neighborhood where the only thing you can do is sit in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot and get high with some kid named Kenny, then this is what you listen to. They're just pent-up, pissed-off kids, and even though we might be a little older, we're not really any different." Just as with trends in larger hip-hop culture, horrorcore was conceived by black cats before being co-opted and spun into a multi-million-dollar industry by mostly Caucasian practi-tioners. There's little debate that African-American Michigan rapper Esham pioneered the niche (which he now calls "acid rap") in 1989, when the then-13-year-old debuted with the unholy Boomin' Words from Hell. Unlike most contemporary gore rappers, whose rhymes are grounded more in fantasy than in reality, Esham in early hyperbolic efforts like KKKill the Fetus and Closed Casket served up shattered reflections of the real mayhem that consumed his Seven Mile neck of East Detroit. The Motor City has a rich history of violent rap to go along with Alice Cooper, the Stooges, and the MC5, and since the early '90s, the Esham-modeled ICP and their Psychopathic Records brand have amassed a significant legionnaire army. Known as Juggalos and Juggalettes, ICP fanatics flock to shows masked in clown paint and hatchet gear, and over the past two decades they've purchased more than seven million records. The last Gathering of the Juggalos — ICP's annual Midwestern trailer-park shit show and backyard-wrestling extrava-ganza — drew more than 20,000 heads while incorporating relatable acts from outside the Psychopathic family that included Ice Cube, Onyx, GWAR, and Scarface. And when consid-ering Detroit's role in popularizing nihilistic hip-hop, one can't forget Eminem, the pretty-boy vagrant who ushered Esham aesthetics onto MTV. (In case you forgot: one of Shady's first hits was a fantasy about murdering his wife.) While Juggalo nation spawned in Michigan, the East Coast has gone Chucky on us, too. Q-Strange's Creation to Exeqtion chronicles the exploits of a deranged serial killer in detail so graphic even the artist seems taken aback. "I will sometimes go back to this and wonder what the fuck I was thinking," the Providence rapper writes of one track. But the gloom started with two acts. The first was Flatlinerz, a Def Jam afterthought whose Wes Craven antics failed to catch on. More important were Gravediggaz, a collective boasting Poetic, Stetsasonic vets Prince Paul and Frukwan, and Wu-Tang ringleader RZA that emerged from underground in 1994 with Niggamortis. A major inspiration for such acts as Zombie Death Squad (who respect boom-bap principles as much as they do shock value), Gravediggaz cleared a lane for artists like South Brooklyn producer/rapper Necro, whose despi-cability touches youth noir everywhere but who also gets respect from the traditional rap establishment. "Horrorcore artists are usually cheesy lyrically," writes Necro, who recently lent a dark chord to Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II. "They rap about murder and killing in a corny way. . . . My rhymes are not based around horror movies. . . . My subjects might be dark, but I will rap about mad shit [from] human trafficking to cockroaches to dispos-ing a corpse to pimping bitches to the way I grew up in the projects. I consider myself the most extreme hip-hop [artist] on the planet." With lyrically competent gloom acts like Necro and Tech N9ne straddling the "Rock the Bells" and "Gathering of the Juggalos" demographics, it would seem that violent an-guish is gaining in acceptance in underground-rap circles. According to some, that development should be credited to the likes of Black Sabbath, Cannibal Corpse, and any number of other punk and metal bands who are the true forefathers of horrorcore and death rap. "The concept underneath Zombie Death Squad is that all these rappers now are doing the same thing — like fucking zombies," says Mortis. "That's why you see artists like Necro and Tech N9ne — who have crazy, disgusting live shows — becoming more popular with rap fans who are sick of watching guys standing on stage and doing nothing. Per-sonally, I stole a lot of my shit from the Misfits [who will perform at Lupo's on Sunday, November 1]. I can't hide my influences — I have a fucking Black Flag tattoo on my arm." Reminiscent of the media frenzy that surrounded Judas Priest and teen suicides in 1990 is how horrorcore is now on trial for a rash of recent murders that include a quadruple homicide in Virginia and, closer to Rhode Island, the Kimberly Cates slaying in New Hampshire. This is neither the time nor the forum to host a chicken-or-bad-egg debate, but you might recall that the Granite State birthed GG Allin some half a century ago, so it's hardly news that our northern neighbors have long fiended for creative depravity. As for why rappers are held more accountable than Stephen King and George A. Romero, R.A. the Rugged Man — who recently wrote and produced the B horror flick Bad Biology (and who will perform along with ZDS at Harpers Ferry in Allston, Massachusetts, on Halloween) — chalks it up to hypocrisy. "People will complain about me and then go see some bitch's tits get ripped off in Saw. They look at films as entertainment and fiction, but in rap music they're trusting, for some reason."
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Malware Threat Warning! Scam via Online Video!
This is not a prank! I Just stumbled across this when videos by the YouTube user?? Kaleigh421112Trang suddenly showed up in my subscriptions (based on Keywords) for my CirqueDuSoleilGuru account.
I made the URLs that are not hyperlinked this way on purpose, to prevent any accidental harm to the readers. You can copy and paste the URLs into your browsers address bar, if you know what you are doing at your own risk. Don???t say that I did not warn you!
The user account in question was just created on 12/13/2009
By now this user has already 190 virtually identical videos uploaded that don't show much, except a message that the video cannot be watched on YouTube due to length limitation. See description for link to full video. etc. Here is a screen shot of it.
E.g. Circus Circus Part 1/13 Online*:?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5kYgqUX0rE
*This video was actually already taken down by YouTube, maybe because I flagged it as Spam from an established YouTube account with almost 2000 subscribers. But most of the other videos are still up as I am writing this. For example this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJj-PkdLqac?? (which I also reported so it is probably being removed shortly as well)
The videos that are still up all include a short description and a obscured link with tracking code embed via the redirection service TinyURL.com. In the example video that I mentioned before and reported to YouTube already the URL was: http://tinyurl.com/ycksuwy&499420166
Here Comes The Scammy Part
That URL redirects to: http://www.onlinemoviedb.info/watch.php?vid=Dreaming_in_Circus
The page states that a plug-in must be downloaded to watch the video. It includes multiple links where you are supposed to download the needed plug-in from, such as this one (Warning! Do not Download and Execute)!
The referred to EXE ???vlcsetup.exe??? is 328,984 bytes in size. The file name is implying that the plug-in is related to the freeware VideoLan Video Player, what it is not.
I downloaded the executable without starting it. I then scanned it with McAfee Viruscan, which did not detect anything yet. So I uploaded it to VirusTotal.com, an online on-demand virus and malware scanner, which scans files using over 50 different scanners such as McAfee, F-Secure, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Panda, PC-Tools, Sophos, TrendMicro and others.
I wasn???t the first one who checked the file obviously, because a report was already available*, which gives it a 37% probability that it is infected. It is probably new and I bet the probability will increase as I write this (as do the uploads of virtually identical videos with the same purpose to YouTube).
Here is the link to the report from VirusTotal.com.
* VirusTotal.com knows that it is the same file as somebody else already submit based on the file size and file name, because that could be faked easily. It uses so called checksums that are generated from the entire content of the file. The Checksums for this file are for example:
MD5???? : bead2d46d08ff080ac4a6d0908922230 |
More Hints and Scale of the Problem
Here are more accounts on YouTube. Just to name a few (Each with hundreds of videos each):
There are most certainly a lot more, but they should be easily be detected. Look for new users that have hundred+ videos of 9:58 minutes length and a TinyURL.com link in the video description.
All of those Users always have video listing disabled (does not show anything on the user???s home page)
The target website itself lists tons of copyrighted movies on its homepage.
Also suspicious, the detail page of every movie has the same comments to give the impression that people watched the movie etc.
Here are the fake comments
3rd link worked perfectly and fast mirror. I liked it. Thanks for the upload!Hotjamz
Yep that was a good one 5/5Monstersb
didn't think it was all that,but it was good.7/10.great qualit thoDazedNConfused
How do I watch this video?DazedNConfused
Never mind. I just downloaded the plugin and the video worked flawlessly!
This Is Just The Beginning
The uploads are done on a large scale and with sophisticated scripts to dynamically create typical titles with matching descriptions in YouTube. YouTube also has a dupe checker that identical videos cannot be uploaded by the same account (at least used to be it that way). But changing a single byte is already enough to get around it. That???s probably all these guys did, because the videos appear to the human viewer identical. They also show all the same Thumbnail, which should raise suspicion by any user of YouTube with some working brain cells left (That is how I got suspicious). The hackers are obviously not sophisticated enough though, because they did not seem to have taken into account the problem with identical thumbnails that will appear in the box with ???more videos by ?????? but also in the ???related video box??? where I got the other user names from. Because the videos are similar in some fashion, YouTube thinks that they are related.
It is very very hard to produce identical thumbnails for videos that are not identical. In the early days YouTube used frames that could be predicted in advance (and was used for manipulations by users). This isn???t possible today anymore.
I would not be surprised, if similar scams will pop-up in the future more and more, also on other smaller social networks and video sharing sites. Those scams will also get more and more sophisticated and users will be vulnerable until their Antivirus/Antispyware software will be updated to detect those new threats that will emerge and then disappear again quickly.
The only real protection is up to the user himself
NEVER download and install a plug-in where you don???t know and trust the source. Installing a malicious plug-in is like unlocking the door, disabling the alarm and then open it to invite the burglar in to have a look around and take whatever he likes.?? Almost all video sharing sites use FLASH for the video playback. The Flash plug-in should only be downloaded from the Adobe.com web site (and not from anywhere else).
Some apps might use the Shockwave plug-in, also from Adobe, which can be downloaded and installed via
Although I have not seen used with online video yet, web applications might also use JAVA by SUN, which can also be downloaded absolutely free of charge (like the FLASH and SHOCKWAVE plug-ins) from the web site that was created by SUN just for this. The URL is: http://www.java.com/download
Be Careful, without getting paranoid. Use common sense and caution where appropriate. Unfortunately not everybody on the Internet has the safety and happiness of the users in mind.
Be Safe!
Carsten aka Roy/SAC
Comments (2)
Randomly came across your site while I was googling to confirm my suspicion about those links –
Besides the more obvious fraud parts of the video (the repeated comments, etc), a poke at the site code reveals that no video is even attempted to be loaded (the querystring is just a dummy) and the form to submit comments doesn't even go anywhere.


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Welcome to
Dunes Waterfront Resort
Enjoy a resort with breathtaking views as it is located on Silver Lake and overlooks the remarkable sand dunes. Between Silver Lake and Lake Michigan, some 2,000 acres of open moving sand dunes create a panorama that is both amazing and inviting. Experience the dunes in a Dune Buggy, hike over the open sand, bring or rent an off-road vehicle to test your skills, or enjoy a delightful and informative Jeep tour of this spectacular area. You are guaranteed to find what you and your family are looking for as you explore the Silver Lake Sand Dunes/Hart area.
Unwind in one of our relaxing in-room spas or take a dip in our 62 foot long indoor swimming pool. A day of sunbathing is simple and convenient as Dunes Waterfront Resort offers a private beach and sundeck. You may also want to bring or rent a boat to explore Silver Lake and the majestic sand dunes. Make your final destination our private dock. The entire top floor of the resort is dedicated to family friendly amenities including the indoor pool, hot tub, and game room.
If romance is your desire, evening time brings a lovely sunset across Silver Lake which can be coupled with a evening walk along the Lake Michigan beach. As you return to your guest room after a splendid day in this serene area, you can rest easy knowing our facility is smoke free. Because we are concerned about the safety of our guests, fireworks are not permitted on hotel property.
Looking for a rewarding and fun activity? Within walking distance of the resort you can drive a Go Kart, play a round of miniature golf, shop for a one-of-a-kind memento, or even pick up your favorite ice cream treat.
Another diversion located steps from the resort is Silver Lake, a swimming and fishing destination that provides an abundance of Walleye, Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike, Bluegill, and Black Crappie. If history and natural beauty are what you crave, a short scenic drive to Little Sable Point Lighthouse might be exactly what you need.
Whatever your pleasure, let Dunes Waterfront Resort help you and your family start creating memories that will last a lifetime!


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By installing, copying, or otherwise using and testing VintaSoft Twain .NET SDK, you automatically agree to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. If you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, do not install or use VintaSoft Twain .NET SDK.
Any reproduction or redistribution of VintaSoft Twain .NET SDK or any of its components not in accordance with this Agreement is expressly prohibited by law, and may result in severe civil and criminal penalties. VintaSoft Twain .NET SDK is protected by the copyright law and the laws and international agreements on intellectual property rights.
You may not accept this Agreement if you are not of legal age to form a binding contract, if you have no authority to bind your company or organization to this agreement, or if you are a person barred from using the software under the laws of any country.
The following terms have specific meanings in this Agreement:
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Currently I'm the only one in my house not napping, so it felt like a great time to update the blog and find my little guy some Easter clothes. I probably have twenty minutes to perform both tasks if I'm lucky, so we'll see how this goes.
Watching her sleep so peacefully is so opposite to how her first week went for the rest of us. Within two days of being home from the hospital, we had a terrible, violent, AWFUL stomach virus rip through our house. Thankfully, my mother and Annabelle were spared. But sadly, my sweet Jack was not. It was his first bug, and him not understanding what was happening was so pitiful. The day after he got it, I came down with it. Not to be overly dramatic, but I thought I was going to die, so then I was even more sad that my little guy had to go through it. Mr. G was hit last, a few hours after me. It was a total plague on our house.
By Wednesday afternoon, I felt like a new woman. Somehow living through that 4 days postpartum made me feel a little bit invincible which was good, because I was bound and determined that Jack would make it back into his routine at MDO the next day, which would also be my first day parenting two kids on my own. Somehow we managed to get there, everyone clean, lunch packed, and only 20 minutes late. While he was there, Annabelle and I came home and napped the entire time.
My mom came back for a few days this past week, and we spent the time enjoying my babies since we didn't get to do that during week 1. We played a little dress-up with the little lady and grabbed some pictures of my sweet kiddos together. Jack even held his sister for the first time! But I'll need another 20 minute break to go chase down my camera and get those pics up here.
I'm working hard at helping Annabelle establish her days from her nights. The past few nights she's only needed a bottle at 2 and 5:30-6 so that has been wonderful but getting her to go back to sleep after she wakes up then has been my challenge. I've pulled out my Baby Whisperer book again, so we'll see what she says!
We're doing really well, but working through the normal things that happen when a new baby enters the household. Our normal is completely different, our schedules are thrown off, and I probably need to wake up at least an hour earlier than usual to make it anywhere in the mornings if I want to really get ready. And I had forgotten how much is required to pack up a newborn to go anywhere.
It's a re-learning process, but we'll get there!


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We can all agree that the pandemic created many unexpected events in each of our lives, and we've all had to figure out how to adapt. That means now is a good time to review how your needs may have changed, and if those changes have impacted the financial goals you previously set for yourself and your family. One way of doing that is to outline what your needs are today, and then decide what you think you need to do to prepare for tomorrow. Depending on your life stage and goals, and how the pandemic has personally impacted your life, you may need to plan for new, additional risks. In a recent article published, it was stated that "61% of retirees said they wish they had done a better job planning for retirement financially." Are you one of these people? Do you know someone who is? Call us, we're always here to help you review your current situation and develop a strategy to help you prepare for tomorrow.
Read the full article: "One-third of Americans plan to retire later due to Covid-19"


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Genesis 10
1Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem Ham and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
3And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
4And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5Of these were the isles of the nations divided in their lands, every one after his tongue; after their families, in their nations.
6And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.
7And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
8And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
9He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.
10And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11Out of that land he went forth into Assyria, and builded Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah,
12and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great city).
13And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
14and Pathrusim, and Casluhim (whence went forth the Philistines), and Caphtorim.
15And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth;
16and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite;
17and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite;
18and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanite spread abroad.
19And the border of the Canaanite was from Zidon, as thou goest toward Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, unto Lasha.
20These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, in their nations.
21And unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born.
22The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram.
23And the sons of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
24And Arpachshad begat Shelah; and Shelah begat Eber.
25And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
26And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah;
27and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah;
28and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba;
29and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
30And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.
31These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
32These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.


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NOTE: Sorry for the lack of correspondence for the last 20 months... I have been a little busy serving as a missionary for the LDS Church in Wisconsin.
I anticipate returning home in March 2008, and then will have many updates. Please hold tight until then. I apologize for not making this known sooner!
As someone whose collegic study has been that of animation, I've spent many hours watching and analyzing animated films (it can get rather taxing... can't I just watch a movie without thinking about every little thing already???), so I'm going to provide a little insight and analysis about each character and the film in which they star.
In the classic tradition of Animated Heroines, you can vote for your favorite hero. Vote on the voting page, and check out the results here. If you would like to link to my website, feel free to use any of the banners on the Advertise page. If you would like to link to a specific hero's page, you are welcome to use the buttons below, and the URL of the hero's page.
Click here to check out the pictures my sister and I took on our recent Spring Break/college graduation trip to Disneyland! TOTAL dream vacation.
Again, a very special thanks to Disney-Dreams.net for awarding me their Site of the Month Award for January 2006! It's truly an honor.
After much deliberation, I have decided to put the following heroes in separate categories...
The original Animated Heroes website.
The sequel: Animated Heroes, created and run by none other than myself, original page from 1998.
The Animated Villains Homepage.
My second page and the third in this trilogy. This one doesn't have a banner (as of yet), but it just might be back up one day! (Link currently unavailable)
Other of my favorite links:
And because I'm a sucker for any way to get more traffic, this is my personal online Art Gallery, with loads of original drawings (Harry Potter, Disney, figure drawings, sketchbook samples, animation samples, etc.). Make sure you leave comments!
Be sure to visit Lili's gallery!
Check out her drawings of Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, life drawings, sketchbook samples and random doodles, not to mention her incredible Photoshop work!
Just for the fun of it, this is the website I made to "learn" the html stuff for my CS100 class a couple years ago....
It's more than a little obvious that I'm quite enamored of the Boy Who Lived and the woman who created him... Anyway, enjoy!
The ultimate Harry Potter site for news and updates.
DISCLAIMER: The characters and films cited on this page are property of Disney, Disney/Pixar, DreamWorks, WB, 20th Century Fox, Buena Vista Television, Tim Burton, Edgar Rice Burroughs, etc. respectively, and are used here without permission, and without any monetary gain. This is a fan site, folks, no profit to be made here.


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Immigration agents descend on 7-Eleven stores in 17 states
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Seven immigration agents filed into a 7-Eleven store before dawn Wednesday, waited for people to go through the checkout line and told arriving customers and a driver delivering beer to wait outside. A federal inspection was underway, they said.
Within 20 minutes, they verified that the cashier had a valid green card and served notice on the owner to produce hiring records in three days that deal with employees' immigration status.
The well-rehearsed scene, executed with quiet efficiency in Los Angeles' Koreatown, played out at about 100 7-Eleven stores in 17 states and the District of Columbia, a rolling operation that officials called the largest immigration action against an employer under Donald Trump's presidency.
The employment audits and interviews with store workers could lead to criminal charges or fines. And they appeared to open a new front in Trump's expansion of immigration enforcement, which has already brought a 40 percent increase in deportation arrests and pledges to spend billions of dollars on a border wall with Mexico.
A top official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the audits were "the first of many" and "a harbinger of what's to come" for employers.
"This is what we're gearing up for this year and what you're going to see more and more of is these large-scale compliance inspections, just for starters," said Derek Benner, acting head of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, which oversees cases against employers.
"It's not going to be limited to large companies or any particular industry — big, medium and small," he said.
After the inspections, officials plan to look at whether the cases warrant administrative action or criminal investigations, Benner told The Associated Press.
7-Eleven Stores Inc., based in Irving, Texas, said in a statement that the owners of its franchises are responsible for hiring and verifying work eligibility. The chain with more than 8,600 convenience stores in the U.S. said it has previously ended franchise agreements for owners convicted of breaking employment laws.
Unlike other enforcement efforts that have marked Trump's first year in office, Wednesday's actions were aimed squarely at store owners and managers, though 21 workers across the country were arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally.
Illegal hiring is rarely prosecuted, partly because investigations are time-consuming and convictions are difficult to achieve because employers can claim they were duped by fraudulent documents or intermediaries. Administrative fines are discounted by some as a business cost.
Amy Peck, an Omaha, Nebraska, immigration attorney who represents businesses, said an employer crackdown will never work because the government has limited resources and there are many jobs that people who are in the country legally do not want.
"When these audits occur, the employees scatter in the wind and go down the street and work for somebody else," Peck said. "You're playing whack-a-mole."
President George W. Bush's administration pursued high-profile criminal investigations against employers in its final years with dramatic pre-dawn shows of force and large numbers of worker arrests. In 2008, agents arrived by helicopter at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, and detained nearly 400 workers. Last month, Trump commuted the 27-year prison sentence of Sholom Rubashkin, former chief executive of what was the nation's largest kosher meatpacking operation.
Barack Obama's administration more than doubled employer audits to more than 3,100 a year in 2013, shunning Bush's flashier approach. John Sandweg, an acting ICE director under Obama, said significant fines instilled fear in employers and avoided draining resources from other enforcement priorities, which include child exploitation, human trafficking and money laundering.
Wednesday's audits arose from a 2013 investigation that resulted in charges against nine 7-Eleven franchisees and managers in New York and Virginia. Eight have pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay more than $2.6 million in back wages, and the ninth was arrested in November.
The managers used more than 25 stolen identities to employ at least 115 people in the country illegally, knowing they could pay below minimum wage, according to court documents.
Neither 7-Eleven nor was its parent company, Seven & I Holding Co. based in Tokyo, was charged in the case.
Julie Myers Wood, former head of ICE during the Bush administration, said the most recent inspections showed that immigration officials were focusing on a repeat violator. Part of the problem, Wood said, is the lack of "a consistent signal" between administrations that the U.S. government will prosecute employers who hire immigrants without legal status.
Some immigration hardliners have been pressing Trump to move against employers. Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said the inspections offered "a good sign" that the administration was serious about going after employers. But, he said, the administration would need to go beyond audits.
"It's important for Trump to show that they're not just arresting the hapless schmo from Honduras but also but also the politically powerful American employer," he said.
In Koreatown, agents gathered in a grocery store parking lot and drove through side streets in unmarked cars to their target location.
The manager was in Bangladesh and the owner, reached by phone, told the clerk to accept whatever documents were served. The clerk told agents he had no knowledge of documents required to prove eligibility to work and was asked to pass along brochures for voluntary programs aimed at better compliance with immigration laws.
Merchant reported from Houston.


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By Jim Purpura. Posted October 25, 2012, 8:12 PM.Conditions are ripe for the first strong Santa Ana wind event of the season. The trough of low pressure responsible for the cool weather, light rain and drizzle early in the week has moved east and is being replaced by high pressure aloft. At the surface, a cold dome of high pressure is surging back to the southwest toward southern California. The surge of cold will mean cool Santa Ana winds in the mountains and deserts, and very warm windy weather in the Inland Empire as the air is pushed downslope west of the mountain and warms. Look for strongest east winds to begin after midnight and begin to subside after noon Friday. Wind gusts could be near 60 mph across the Banning Pass and below the Cajon Pass. In the mountains look for the strongest winds just downwind, or west, of the ridge tops. Top gusts in most of the Inland Empire will be between 30 to 40 mph, with stronger winds just west of the mountains. Related to the wind will be fire danger and low visibilities. Strong winds, low humidities and very warm temperatures will combine to create high fire danger, and the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Inland Empire and mountain areas of San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside County through Saturday evening. Strong winds may lower visibilities in blowing dust. Warm weather will continue through Monday, but the strongest winds will have long subsided. Friday's Santa Ana Wind Event. Courtesy National Weather Service. |
Other Recent Weather News for San Diego (City Heights), California


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I'm starting a new monthly series here on LifeOhm where I can share some of my favorite books with you. This one, The Book of Joy, I actually read in January, but I loved it so much that I knew it had to be the first book I featured. I got this book as a Christmas gift (thanks Mom!) and am planning to gift this book to others.
The Book of Joy is the story about Archbishop Desmond Tutu's trip to visit the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India to celebrate His Holiness's eightieth birthday and to create what they hoped would be a gift for others, and it truly is a gift.
Writer Douglas Abrams helped facilitate the dialogue and brought in some of his own research to support the concepts presented. The reader gets the benefit of the wisdom of these spiritual leaders, groundbreaking research on joy, and to witness the playful interaction between these sweet souls. [Read more…] about LifeOhm Book Club – The Book of Joy


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brotherly/colleague-y love, Shashitabh-ishtyle
Amitabh has written about his long relationship with Shashi in his blog here. Read it and just try to resist saying "Awwww" to yourself: "forever he remained that same cultured, well meaning, soft spoken, fun loving colleague." It's a very dear, multi-decade story, and it has made me like the Big B more as a person/persona than any other statement I've heard/read him make. My own sentiments aside, he is of course uniquely qualified to talk about Shashi, and though he doesn't go in to much detail about Shashi as an actor or about their collaborative process - like there could ever be enough detail on those points! - it's a lovely little portrait of Masala Pradesh's Jodi No. 1 that no one else could share. Awwww!


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365 days, 48 followers, 140 posts. Figures are important in blogging, but should not be the objective. As a matter of fact, the statistics for the blog increased exponentially for the first few months, but have stabilised more recently. I used to watch them carefully, but I realised how unimportant they are when I discovered that you could bump them up significantly by posting a link on sites such as Stumbleupon. Traffic increases, but these are visitors who stay for mere seconds before skipping on to the next site.
Blogging for me is about making connections with people. There are those who stop by and leave a message, those whose blogs I visit and enjoy, and those that I have met and talked to whilst researching my posts. I made a conscious decision early on to concentrate on detail and research, firstly for my own interest and culture, but also because I believe I can only respect whatever audience I have if I attempt to bring them something new and different.
Blogging is also about sharing. This may seem like a strange opinion to hold when you consider that it is in fact a very personal activity, but I have also deliberately avoided talking about myself and discuss only what I see. If I look forward from this point, my major objective is to open this space up to other people. The subject is Paris, not me, and it would become very dull if I only described my perspective and my place in this city. It is for this reason that I have created two new regular features; Paris People, where I meet others who live and work in the city and talk about their jobs and passions, and Paris Polaroids, where people can contribute anything they like about their experience of the city.
The other major deviation during the year was the creation of the Paris Walks PDF documents and their hosting on the http://www.freepariswalks.com website. Again, for me this falls into the zone of sharing, and I have been delighted to see that the three walks have been downloaded around 1600 times now. This is something that I will strive to continue over the next year, even though it means a crazy amount of work for me! Who knows, I may even decide to break out of the internet and do some (very occasional, but free!) guided tours...
Work? This is certainly the wrong word. Time. Yes, this all demands a lot of my time, but it is time spent on something that brings me pleasure, and I think this is the crucial factor for a long-lasting blog! What I do, I do first and foremost for myself, but when I saw two people following one of my walks last weekend, I was happy to think that I had perhaps encouraged people to go somewhere they may never have gone by themselves.
So, whoever reads this – regulars who I know and thank, or anonymous visitors who have always sat at the back of the room in silence, I can tell you that I'm not finished yet! Coming up will be investigations into many other parts of the city and a breakout to the suburbs, features on racehorse trainers, street artists, photographers and bar owners, and I sincerely hope, contributions from many of you too!


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This post originally appeared on Harvard Business Review.
Mark Zuckerberg reinvigorated an entire generation when he added nine zeroes to the end of his bank account before he was 30 years old. He made start-ups great again. He showed the world that youth is not a preventative factor of success and that work can actually be fun. This theme of wealth creation while doing something you love is why an increasingly large percentage of graduates are turning to start-ups over more traditional jobs. It might also be why people are quitting their consulting gigs and investment banking positions to pursue a career in start-up land. Just yesterday I ran into a recent Harvard Business School graduate who quit her consulting gig in order to follow her dream at a new start-up.
Unlike big, established corporations or what we might classify as a "steady job," start-ups present more inherent risk because there are more variables and questions for a prospect to consider. Things like: Does this start-up have the right team? Do they have money? What if I choose the wrong company? Nevertheless, this risk is often overlooked because start-up employee prospects realize that new ventures are more fun, are intellectually rewarding, and could have big paydays down the line.
But there are practical questions that all start-up prospects should consider when looking to join the next could-be big thing.
How many outstanding shares exist? Joining a start-up can have significant upside if you own equity in the business. That upside is determined by two things: the percentage of the company you own and the valuation or price of the company upon a liquidation event (e.g., the sale of the company). When you join a start-up you are often issued stock options. Maybe you are issued 1,000 options; maybe you are issued one million. This number is only as important as the number of outstanding shares in the company. If you are issued 1,000 options and there are 10,000 outstanding shares, then you may own 10% of the business. Make sure you ask your prospective start-up employer how many outstanding shares there are, so you can understand what part of the company you own. If they don't want to tell you, then you may want to reconsider the job altogether. If they can't tell you this, what else might they be hiding?
What is your stock option vesting schedule? Time flies in start-up land. When you get an offer from a start-up, make sure you understand how long it will take to actually receive the equity you are entitled to. A typical vesting schedule has a one-year cliff with a subsequent three-year earn out that vests each and every month. So if you think you might leave within four years, make sure you are comfortable with the vesting schedule. Four years is a long time in a start-up.
How restrictive is your noncompete or non-solicit agreement? I once read a noncompetition agreement that said anything I worked on — in- or outside of the office, during working hours and non working hours — was owned by the employer so long as I was employed there. This is a very restrictive agreement and in so many words says you are a slave to the company. Make sure you understand what this part of your contract says. Employees in the start-up world often bounce to and from various companies, so you want to make sure you're not putting yourself in a compromising situation down the road.
Does the team have a track record? Winners know how to win. It's why venture capitalists tend to favor entrepreneurs that have a proven track record (PDF). A VC once told me that he "looks to invest in people with an unfair advantage over their competitors." These entrepreneurs are people who know the ins and outs of a successful path in a specific domain. Before joining a start-up company, make sure you have a very strong understanding of the team, their investors, and their advisers. This will give you a great indication as to whether or not the start-up has the right ingredients for success. If the team members don't have a track record, that's alright, but make sure you understand what it is that will put them on a winning path.
Why am I really doing this? The most important thing you need to ask yourself when joining a start-up is why. Some people do it because they hate their jobs. Some people do it because they want the credentials. Others join because they think they will get rich or it's the cool thing to do. Ultimately, when you are looking to join a start-up you need to understand the real motivational factors behind your search, because if your reasons do not align with the opportunity, it is likely you will be neither happy nor successful.
With advancements like cloud-based hosting, labor marketplaces, online education, and video conferencing, it is now cheaper than ever to start a company. As a result, we will see continued growth from emerging start-ups and their respective employment opportunities. If you are debating whether or not to join an early-stage venture, make sure you are asking the right questions in order to mitigate your risk and maximize your chances of success.
Tags: Harvard Business Review,Startup company


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Posted Tuesday, November 9, 2010 by John
Free Underoath Poster When You Buy The Album At Participating Stores!
While supplies last, when you purchase the new album from Underoath "Ø (Disambiguation)," at select record stores, you'll get a free double-sided Underoath poster with your purchase. Check out the full list of stores here and then make your plans to pick up the album today!


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Graham, William Alexander
26 July 1873–3 July 1943
William Alexander Graham, farmer leader, was born at Forest Home, Lincoln County, the son of William A. and Julia R. Lane Graham. Educated locally, he attended Horner Military Academy and was a student at The University of North Carolina in 1897–98. A farmer, member of the Grange, and president of the county farmers' alliance, he was named North Carolina commissioner of agriculture in 1923 to succeed his late father. He held that post until defeated for reelection in 1936. Graham served three terms in the state senate, the first in 1923 when he was chairman of the agriculture committee and again in 1939 and 1943. As an active Democrat he was a member of the state Democratic executive committee. In 1928, he was president of the National Association of Commissioners of Agriculture and also served on the executive committee of the Southern Association of Commissioners of Agriculture. He was active in the Baptist church, a member of the Knights of Pythias, and served as president of the North Carolina Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and as vice-president of the South Atlantic district.
Graham never married. He was buried in the cemetery of Machpelah Church near his home at Iron Station.
Alumni records, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Daniel L. Grant, Alumni History of the University of North Carolina (1924).
Raleigh News and Observer, 4 July 1943.
Sons of the American Revolution Magazine, 38 (October 1943).
Additional Resources:
William Alexander Graham Papers 1898-1900 (call #: MS46). Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives. Wake Forest University. http://wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/xmlui/handle/10339/27899 (accessed March 14, 2013).
Image Credits:
Harris & Ewing. "GRAHAM, WILLIAM ALEXANDER". LC-H25- 990007. Photograph. [between 1905-1945]. Harris & Ewing, Inc. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/hec2009008477/ (accessed December 16, 2013).
1 January 1986 | Powell, William S.


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Bill Richardson Biography
Bill Richardson
politician, diplomatBorn: 1947
Birthplace: Pasadena, Calif.
Richardson has spent nearly his entire career as a public servant. A Democrat from New Mexico, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1983 and served until January 1997. As a congressman he was chief deputy Democratic whip and sat on the Commerce, Intelligence, and the Resource committees. In February 1997 he became the U.S. ambassador to the UN, the first Hispanic to hold the position. Known as a skilled troubleshooter, Richardson traveled to such hot spots as North Korea, Iraq, Cuba, and Sudan, where he successfully negotiated the release of American hostages. Richardson also mediated discussions between Zaire's former president Mobutu and rebel leader Laurent Kabila, which resulted in the fairly peaceful transfer of power in the country that is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.
In 1998, President Clinton appointed him secretary of energy. In that position, in which he served until 2001, he set aside more than 20,000 acres for wildlife preservation, helped to stem rising oil prices, and ushered in a program to remove from the Colorado River 10 tons of radioactive material.
In 2002 Richardson successfully ran for the governorship of New Mexico. In 2007, he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Richardson received a BA from Tufts in 1970 and a MA from Tuft's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971.


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Custom Logo Repeat Retractable Banner
- Free shipping - Delivery in 3 days (overnight shipping available)
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Our retractable banners come in a variety of sizes, ranging from small tabletop versions to large floor-standing displays. The size of the banner will depend on the intended use and the available space. Tabletop banners are ideal for smaller displays, such as at trade shows or events, while larger floor-standing banners are perfect for larger spaces, such as retail stores or exhibitions. Don't see the size you want? Contact us and we'll create a custom product for you.
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Retractable banners are also highly versatile and can be used in a variety of settings and environments. They are commonly used in trade shows, conferences, and exhibitions, as well as in retail stores, restaurants, and other businesses. They can also be used for outdoor events and promotions, as they are weather-resistant and can withstand exposure to sun, wind, and rain.
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Once a design is approved it will ship the next business day. Our free standard shipping takes 2-3 days on average for delivery.
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- Pick product type Size, Side & Add-ons
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You will receive notification once your order has been dispatched.


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Take a lunch break and enjoy free weekday afternoon recitals by some of the UK's most exciting young musicians.
Discover the UK's next big talent with concerts featuring remarkable Chetham's School of Music performers, aged 8-18, from the UK's leading music school.
We regularly update our upcoming programmes for each Chetham's concert, and you can find the full list here.*
Watch out for occasional special guest lunchtime concerts by professional artists, in a carefully curated series showcasing early career musicians.
*Chetham's School of Music's remarkable performers are still developing their craft, so we hope you'll understand if very occasionally we change the programme at short notice. Thank you for supporting young musicians.


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DURBAN, South Africa – England's Tommy Fleetwood birdied the last hole in a third-round 69 to seize a one-shot lead in the Volvo Champions on Saturday with an overall 10-under 206.
Dutchman Joost Luiten (70) and Victor Dubuisson (69) of France were tied in second at 9-under in the elite 36-player event at the Durban Country Club.
Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen was left counting the cost of having to take an "unplayable" penalty shot that led to triple bogey at the 16th hole in a round of 71.
Oosthuizen dropped to fourth on 8 under. The former British Open winner, whose last victory was at this event a year ago, had birdied the 15th to move to 10-under before stumbling at the 16th.
"I had a look where the ball was lying in the bushes but there was no way I could get a club to it, so I decided to call it unplayable," Oosthuizen said. "I know I came from five back last year to win but you don't want to give yourself unnecessary work to do. I had a good opportunity today to go to 12 under at least."
The 118th-ranked Fleetwood is a former Walker Cup player and joined the European Tour full-time in 2012. He qualified for Durban by winning the Johnnie Walker Championship in September at Gleneagles.
"It would be awesome if I could win again as all I want to do is win golf tournaments," Fleetwood said.
Dubuisson heads into the final day also seeking a second Tour victory and trying to reinforce his chances of qualifying automatically for this year's European Ryder Cup team.
Dubuisson arrived in South Africa third overall on the European team points table and needs only to finish in the top eight to take the lead.
Ronan Flood resumed his role as caddy for Padraig Harrington after collapsing on the course a day earlier from the effects of food poisoning.


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Hyundai Motor Company unveils 45, an electric vehicle concept, at the International Motor Show (IAA) 2019 in Frankfurt today.
As an homage to its heritage and reimagined for the future, 45 foreshadows a new era of Hyundai's automotive design focused on electrification, autonomous technologies and intelligent design. The progressive 45 puts a twist on a 45-year-old icon, the Hyundai Pony Coupe Concept, to introduce an entirely new in-car experience for self-driving vehicles of tomorrow.
Taking a look to the past is essential for moving forward, and the dramatic exterior styling of 45 excites the imagination and draws inspiration from the vehicle that first established Hyundai's design DNA, the 1974 Pony Coupe Concept. The iconic character of 45 is defined by its monocoque-style body, aerodynamic and light-weight design inspired by aircrafts from the 1920s. The car's name also owes itself in part to the 45-degree angles at the front and rear, forming a diamond-shaped silhouette that further foreshadows the design direction of future EV models.
The new concept strips away complexity, celebrating the clean lines and minimalistic structure of the original coupe concept. Combining heritage with vision, 45 incorporates the evolution of Hyundai's 'Sensuous Sportiness' design language. 'Sensuous' stands for enhanced emotional values that customers can experience through design, and 'Sportiness' is determined to implement those values through innovative mobility solutions.
"As an icon of Hyundai, the 45 clearly reveals how Hyundai heads towards the future through heritage," said SangYup Lee, Senior Vice President and the Head of Hyundai Design Center. "Through the 45 built upon our design language 'Sensuous Sportiness', Hyundai wants to present our vision on how we want to reshape people's in-car lifestyle in the era of electrification and autonomous driving."
Outside – Style reimagined
45 reinterprets the concept's distinctive lattice radiator grille with a 'kinetic cube lamp' design. The iconic front-end presence with the kinetic cube lamps evokes analogue emotions, while at the same time applying cutting-edge technologies. It also takes Hyundai's lighting architecture to the next level, allowing people to instantly recognize the vehicle at a distance.
By exhibiting a modernized fastback profile, 45 epitomizes stability and dynamism, characteristics accentuated by the vehicle's significant width and forward-oriented posture. The precise, yet energetic factors of the exterior are delivered throughout the cabin, which is structured by a dynamic daylight opening (DLO). The DLO terminates in the fast angle of the C-pillar, which generates a feeling of dynamic forward motion, even when standing still.
As a progressive EV, new technology is visible in 45's design. At the bottom of the door, a special garnish highlights its long-distance battery capability and, through active LED lights, drivers can intuitively know how much longer they can drive even before they get in the car. These thoughtful elements are designed for a user who is experiencing an EV for the first time.
45 also highlights future technological developments that may influence forthcoming Hyundai models, such as a hidden Camera Monitoring System (CMS) that is equipped in the vehicle, leaving room for self-driving system applications, and other upcoming technologies to emphasize Hyundai's open architecture for the future. The system utilizes side cameras instead of traditional wing mirrors to overcome visibility challenges caused by dirt gathering on the mirror offering progressively less visibility. 45 overcomes this challenge by using an embedded turntable module, which rotates the lens past a brush to ensure perfect visibility at all times.
Inside – Covers all aspects of a consumer's lifestyle
The 45 embodies Hyundai's 'STYLE SET FREE' strategy for future mobility that emphasizes personalization of design and function. As the new era of future mobility opens, Hyundai reimagines the in-car experience in a self-driven vehicle. The interior becomes a unique living space capable of transforming to accommodate a range of passenger lifestyle demands.
Inside, Hyundai's design team takes the space beyond driving to focus on the vehicle's evolution into a living space. Inspired by furniture designs, the minimalist cabin is fitted with an inviting fusion of wood, fabric and leather, creating a warm atmosphere that is both relaxing and spacious. Daylight was also considered as a design element for the headlining to bring analogue emotions in a natural way.
For occupants, the car delivers a comfortable and communal environment, with lounge chair-style rear seats and front seats that can rotate to face other passengers. Pushing design and technology further ahead, front-seat passengers can interact with the infotainment system via a projection-beam interface. This replaces a single central touchscreen with a series of displays and functions integrated into the dashboard itself.
The fully-electric powertrain finally enables a complete reimagination of how cars are packaged. The space is fully maximized with batteries and motors positioned outside or below the passenger compartment.
The batteries in 45 are set throughout the car's 'skateboard floor,' contributing to its spacious interior. The model's flat floor where the batteries are stored is nicknamed the 'skateboard' as it allows Hyundai to create a space that feels like a living room with new pieces of furniture. The floor is covered by a comfortable carpet, to further give off the sense of a living space, as well as reduce road noise. The seats swivel towards occupants as they open the door for convenient entry and exit.
Clean lines, ergonomic placement of controls and a 'high-end electronics' feel for the interior fixtures further enhance the feeling of space while reinforcing the simplistic modernity of 45's design. The car reimagines storage space in a range of novel ways, including refining the concept of door-mounted device pockets by introducing a horizontally elongated shape that allows books or tablet PCs to be stored. Furthermore, the storage space uses a transparent material, so it is easy to see the content.
45 will be unveiled to the world on Sept. 10 at IAA 2019 in Frankfurt (09:25 CET, Hall 11). Hyundai will showcase various future innovations in vehicle technology and integration of lifestyle applications to illustrate 'STYLE SET FREE.'