text:
Previously: Glory brain sucked Tara and our hearts broke right along with Willow's.
Lorraine: The episode starts immediately after the end of the last, with Glory busting into Tara's dorm room from the outside and discovering that Dawn is the key. Buffy takes off running with Dawn, and apparently doesn't have time to open the door, so she barrels through it. Of course, now she's on the floor and has to scramble to her feet. I'd call that a plan fail.
Sweeney: Not that she really had ample time for quality plan-making.
Kirsti: True. But my first thought would always be to open a door rather than try to jump through it…
Lor: Perhaps that is another reason we are not the chosen ones.
Glory starts after them, but Willow is able to first hold her back with her wall of invisible goo, and then send her flying backwards. Willow grabs Tara and runs.
Buffy and Dawn are running through Contrivance U, but apparently Glory has super speed. I wish they hadn't done that. The more powerful they make her, the more annoyed I am about all the contrivance-y ways they've keep her inactive and ineffectual.
Dawn can't keep on running and Buffy has to pick her up and run with her in her arms. The stunt double and dummy in the scene do hilarious work. I recommend taking a few moments and paying close attention. Glory catches up with them, and instead of grabbing her key and running quickly away, she stands around for a few seconds and puns and asks Buffy for last words. Buffy chooses, "truck," because OF COURSE, there is a big gasoline truck headed straight for Glory.
Wrong thing! Whoops!
Sweeney: Necessary joke is necessary.
K: Agreed. The day we don't make a Mean Girls joke is the day you know we've finally all gone insane.
Lor: I try to always do what is expected of me.
Glory is thrown on top of a car, unscathed, but now it's Ben's turn to take over the body. He's shocked by what he came back into. Roll credits.
At Xander's Gift Suite, Dawn is excitedly telling the Scoobies about their confrontation with Glory, right up until the part where she got thrown "in orbit." Everyone is super impressed that Buffy managed to best Glory but B deadpans that a truck hit her. Anya asks, "did you throw it at her?" Bless her heart. Giles tries to look on the bright side, but Buffy accurately points out that they've only barely escaped whenever they've come against Glory, and now she knows Dawn is the key.
Anya makes few dumb suggestions about how to get rid of Glory. Giles wants to keep looking for ways to defeat her, but Buffy's over that. She wants to run. Giles thinks this is a super drastic thing to do. This is all hilarious to me, because a few of you have been pointing out how extra contrivance-y it is that Buffy never ran away from Glory. My initial reaction was that staying in Sunnydale was just some of the built in story line stuff we have to accept when watching this show. It didn't bother me that they didn't run, because then where would the drama be? The fact that they are running now, though, makes that problematic. BECAUSE YOU SHOULD'VE RUN AGES AGO.
Anyways, Buffy tells everyone to gather their stuff, and that she'll take care of finding them a way out.
We find Ben at Glory's place, handing her one-size-fits-both dress to one of her Flattery Demons who is upset that she probably won't be able to fix the dress. Flattery Demon questions Ben about whether or not he happened to see a human key hanging around when he came back into the body. Ben wouldn't share, even if he had seen the key. The two keep bantering back and forth, and reveal that Ben only exists because of whatever failure brought Glory into this dimension. If Glory gets her hands on the key, Ben will cease to exist. He thinks he can prevent this by getting to the key first. Flattery Demon asks Ben if he's capable of ending a human life. He non-answers that no matter how he came about this life, he plans on keeping it. It echoes Spike's sentiment that how you start is not the thing.
The Scoobies wait with their things by the side of the road. Giles tries to keep them all calm, saying they all just need to wait for Buffy. Next thing we see, an RV rolls up, with aluminum foil blocking out the front windows. Giles suddenly feels worse about his life.
Sweeney: It definitely looks like the sort of thing you'd see in a horror movie where the audience is all, "DON'T GO IN THERE, YOU'LL GET MURDERED!" and the characters are just like, "Gee, that sure looks safe!"
K: SO MUCH. I pretty much think campervans are dodgy looking at the best of times. But with tin foil all over the windows? HUGE BUCKETS OF NOPE.
Lor: The gang all pile inside and Giles spots Spike in the driver's seat. He tells Spike to get out, but Buffy says he's there because he's the only other person who stands a chance against Glory if it comes down to protecting Dawn. That's sorely over-looking Willow, but perhaps she has her own person to protect.
Xander pleads, "Buffy come on!" and she explodes that it isn't a discussion, because he's staying. She storms off as much you can storm off in an RV, and Spike smiles smugly.
K: I'm pretty sure James Marsters needs to be in some kind of steampunk TV show wearing those goggles.
Lor: At the hospital, some sketchy men sign something at a nurse's station, and then say sketchy things like, "see how easy that was?" We cut to them walking around a foggy, wooded area. It's here that I fully notice that they have the Knight of Byzantium whose brain Glory sucked with them.
The Knights are greeted by some Knight in Charge who has a velvety cape, for extra importance. He welcomes Orlando, or Crazy Knight, back and says his sacrifice will not go unnoticed. Crazy Knight starts babbling about shiny things, and how the key is a shiny little girl. Since they know the key is human, and Buffy is protecting the key, they deduce in about three seconds what it took Glory a bazillion years to figure out. Knight in Charge orders his troops to advance, and we see that it's quite a number of soldiers.
In the Let the Good Times Roll RV, Anya asks if someone shouldn't be asking, "are we there yet?" Dawn semi-jokes back that that only works if they know where they are going.
Lor: Xander is making gross, wet, gaggy noises and Anya says he doesn't travel well, like fine shrimp. ANYA AND SHRIMP! Almost as fun as Spike and the Onion Blossom.
Sweeney: Yay drinking game! We've been sorely missing that in Sunnydale! Thanks Anya!
Lor: Spike turns to Dawn and says that he should've picked the Porsche he was eyeing, even though there was only room for him, Dawn and Buffy. Xander glares at him, as much as you can glare at someone before you puke. Xander tells him to give it a rest and threatens him in between gags.
Xander gets up and goes into the front of the RV with Giles. He complains about how much Spike annoys him, though Giles admits that Buffy had a point about Spike perhaps being useful. Xander doesn't think Buffy is thinking clearly, but Giles says she'll be just fine.
Sweeney: He's a bit unconvincing with that "just fine," though more due to all the recent life-destroying trauma than any questions about her judgement on involving Spike.
Lor: And I think it's all meant to give the audience a hint, hint, nudge that Buffy will probably be not just fine.
Willow is searching a book for a barrier spell that will work while they are moving, but isn't having any luck. Tara starts to crazy a little bit, and Dawn nervously asks if anyone is hungry. Anya is all over that, as she pulls out a pan and some Spam from her backpack. Seriously, bless her heart.
Tara reaches out and pulls the blinds, giving Spike a handful of sun. He jumps up with an exclamation, while Willow grabs Tara's hand away from the window. Tara starts crying, and Willow apologizes to Spike. He wins another little piece of my heart when he offers that it's, "no biggie. Look the skin's already stopped smoking."
K: Just gonna stop for a second and point out that SPIKE HAS NO SOUL AND STILL DOES THIS STUFF. Let's just compare that to the other soulless vampires that we see repeatedly: Darla, Drusilla, Angelus, The Master, etc.
Lor: Meh. Sweeney and I have spoken about this a little bit, and she's much better at expressing this: soulless Spike from S2 is not the same as now-Spike. He was very much on par with Darla, Drusilla and Angelus for a long, long time. I think what makes Spike so much fun to watch, and why these moments are especially worth pointing out, is that he's changing right before our very eyes. He once was those vampires, or very much like them, but look at him now, etc.
Tara cries that all the light is gone and it's all dark. We cut to the psych ward in the hospital where all the patients are saying the same thing. It's all dark.
At Glory's apartment, two Flattery Demons are consulting some magical something or other, which tell them that everything is in alignment for their soon coming victory.
Let the Good Times Roll RV. Dawn comes back into the room where Buffy's hiding. She tries to make a joke about Anya's cooking, but Buffy isn't in the joking mood. Dawn almost leaves, but turns back to say thank you to her sister for everything she's done. Good Dawn moments! GOOD DAWN MOMENTS! We have to appreciate them when they happen.
Sweeney: I'll just be over here, waving my Dawn banner.
K: Forget the banner, let's have a little parade!
Lor: The Feels Flutes start up as Buffy is hard on herself for running away, when she's the Slayer and bad guys are supposed to run from her. Dawn declares this running away the best thing anyone has ever done for her. Buffy says it just keeps coming: Glory, Riley, Tara… Joyce. It really has been a crazy, feels filled journey that isn't even over yet. Dawn says the bright side is that it can't get any crazier.
An arrow pierces the RV siding near Buffy, so we're clear that it can and just did get crazier. She looks out the window to see a number of Knights on horseback gaining on the RV. She takes a big deep breath before going out to warn Giles, who has already spotted them. More arrows start coming into the RV as Tara looks out the window and squeals, "horsies!" Giles yells for weapons, and Buffy keeps up the weapon tossing theme with Spike, and tosses him a bag full of them. Spike tells Giles he driving a big ass weapon, and Willow tells him not to hit the horsies. "We won't!" Buffy replies. "Aim for the horsies," she says, just to Giles. Survival, yo.
Giles whips the RV around, but a Knight still manages to climb on top of the RV. He pokes the roof with his sword, and almost gets Buffy.
K: On the other hand, I totally hate this sequence because it's quite possibly the most obvious stunt work of the entire show. Sigh.
Lor: Oh, girl. All of the stunt work is the most obvious stunt work of the entire show. When I spot them, it makes me happy instead of sad.
Inside, Dawn is helping Spike bandage up his bleeding hands. She tells him to keep pressure on it, and he replies, "I always do, sweet bit." A Knight on horseback breaks through one of the RV windows, and starts grabbing for Dawn. Anya thinks on her feet and uses her pan to smack him repeatedly, Cordy/Spatula style.
After that, all seems calm and well. Giles looks back to make sure everyone is alright, but when he looks forward again, there is a Knight riding toward them. The Knight throws a spear that comes through the driver's window and pierces Giles's side. Giles loses control of the RV. Buffy goes flying and the RV rolls onto its side.
After a cut to black, we join the gang looking for shelter, especially because Spike is sizzling in the sun. (K: This drove me nuts for ALL THE REASONS.) They find an abandoned gas station. Xander and Buffy carry Giles in and then Buffy checks to make sure Dawn is okay. She says she is, but mentions that Spike is hurt, because she's a great bro. Buffy roughly assesses Spike's hand wounds and determines that they will heal.
Anya asks what they plan is, and Buffy says they can rest for a bit, but they need to move on because they'll be too easy to locate so close to the wreck. Buffy is super flustered and it doesn't get better when Willow cries out to Buffy. She's managed to slow Giles's bleeding, but it appears he's going into shock. Buffy asks for a minute to think, but she doesn't get one, because a flaming arrow sails into the building. Buffy hides Dawn. The Knights are surrounding them and Buffy again calls for Willow's help AND IT'S SUCH NICE PROGRESSION AND LOOK AT WILLOW HELP.
Spike and Buffy push an old machine of some sort to the door, even though they are surrounded by shabbily boarded up windows. A Knight manages to get inside. Spike comes to her aid and punches the Knight, but is hit by a chip headache. The Knight in Charge comes in with all his velvety cape-ness, and Buffy takes him out fairly quickly. Willow, eyes all blacked out, sets up an energy barrier. I take back my happiness over Willow helping. Someone give her the whites of her eyes back, plz. Thx.
Sweeney: Black Eyed Willow is definitely majorly creepy, but also: she's not so much helping as single-handedly saving them, so. There's that.
K: Yeah. It may be creepy, but I'm still gonna give Will a pass on this one.
Lor: I'll only clarify that this wasn't particularly creepy, I'm just super afraid for what will happen to Willow in the future. It's clear to me that all of this expert magic is building to something and so it makes me hesitant to watch, even when yes, she is saving them.
The Knights try to advance on the gas station again, but they are stopped by Willow's invisible goo. They call for their clerics, who come and identify the goo as a most powerful energy barrier, though they are confident they can get it down.
Spike asks what the story with the Knights is, and Buffy intends to find out. We cut to Knight in Charge tied up to a post. Spike is in the room, and Dawn stands by the door, watching. Buffy asks if he's the knight in charge of getting captured and he replies that he isn't afraid, and that also the key must be destroyed. Buffy starts to get angry, but in a sad, whiny kind of way because Dawn doesn't remember anything about being a key and now she's just a human. Buffy says they aren't the Knight's enemy, but Knight in Charge doesn't see it that way. The Key is too dangerous to exist. Buffy is angrily telling him off, but they are interrupted by Tara's screams from the next room.
Tara is running around, trying to look outside, screaming, "time!" We again cut to the psych ward, where the patients are all saying, "time" over and over and breaking out of the restraints on their bed. The Crazy Knight is muttering the "time" thing too, but his Knight Bro says that the beast may have taken his mind, but will never know the taste of his heart. Knight Bro kills him and then yells that he wants the invisible goo gone ASAP.
Inside, Buffy is holding Giles's hand and apologizes to him saying that they should've stayed put in Sunnydale. This angle is NOT being nice to Anthony Stewart Head. But, also, I guess stomach wound or whatever. Buffy says they should've never run away, but Giles says that this is what he's always admired about her– her ability to place her heart above all else. Giles goes for our mangled, pieced together, the glue is still wet hearts as he struggles to say, "I'm so proud of you. You've come so far. You're everything a Watcher… everything I could have hoped for."
Sweeney: FEELS FOR DAYS AND DAYS. It's fitting that Giles would make a point of reminding her that she puts her heart above all else after she just went on her little spirit quest because she was afraid of losing her humanity. I just love that even I'm-in-so-much-agony-I-think-I-might-be-dying Giles still knows exactly the right thing to say. Too many feels.
K: The word you were looking for there, Giles, was FATHER. *sniffle*
Lor: Giles passes out and Buffy gets an idea. She tells Willow to open a door in her invisible goo. Buffy heads outside with Xander and speaks to Knight Bro. She says that one of her friends was hurt and they want someone to come help. The Knight Bro doesn't think so, but Xander says that there are rules in war, especially since they consider themselves so honorable. Plus, they've got a hostage.
We don't see the resolution, but we cut to Willow magic-ing a pay phone to life. Spike jokes about Willow being better than a Swiss knife, and asks if she'll maybe handle his squeaky TARDIS door. She just walks away.
We cut to BEN! MOTHERFUCKING BEN! rolling up to the abandoned gas station and being met by all of the Knights. Inside, Ben stitches Giles up and flirts with Buffy all at the same time. Spike rolls his eyes in the background.
Sweeney: Appropriate reactions from both you and Spike.
Lor: After a Not Commercial Break, Ben is still bedside flirting. Giles is stabilized but in rough shape.
Xander goes into the back room, and Spike is there struggling with a lighter for his cigarette. Xander helps him out.
Knight in Charge, who is still tied to the post in this room, laughs at the dissension in her ranks. Buffy punches him in the face so I hoped he enjoyed his laugh. Then, it's time for exposition story time! Gather around the Snark Squad magic carpet:
Once upon a time, Glory was ruling in her demon dimension with two other hellgods, and they were way into nasty stuff like anguish and despair. Glory was an overachieving hellgod, though, and she wanted more anguish, more despair, and more power. Her co-ruling hellgods were all, "this bitch is crazy!" and were afraid she wanted to take the dimension for herself, no sharesies. To prevent this, they waged a war against Glory and won. They decided it'd be a great idea to cast her into this other dimension into a baby human body, and she would just die eventually. No guarantees… just eventually. Glory has been harnessing her power to force herself out of her human prison, but then she gets tired and has to go away again. THE END.
Sweeney: That's the weirdest fucking solution to their problem ever. The biggest problem with Glory, as a villain, is how half-assed some of her back story is. There are all sorts of little moments where it seems like they could have been a little more specific, at least with themselves if not with the audience. It still, even at episode 20, feels like pure contrivance in which they fuck with the rules as needed for plot.
K: Seriously. Plus, that's the laziest plan EVER for getting rid of someone, other hell gods. Especially when you're all about the anguish and the despair. Surely you could be more creative than that?!
Lor: Way to phone it in, hellgods.
Dawn shows up to ask what the key is all about, and in a long winded way, Knight in Charge explains that she opens the doors between dimensions, but that it would cause chaos and forever darkness if it happened.
Later, Dawn is moping in the dark, as you would if you found out you were the destroyer of the universe. Buffy hugs her sister and promises not to let anything happen to her.
Back in the room where the Knight in Charge is tied up, Willow and Anya are trying to get Tara to eat. Ben stands around nearby, and the Knight in Charge tells him that legions of people will die thanks to Buffy and her friends. Ben can stop that, however, by ending Dawn's life. Glory will fade and the madness will end.
Dawn watches over Giles who is struggling to breathe. Ben comes over and Dawn asks if Giles is okay. He says he was hurt pretty bad. She blames herself of the injuries, but Ben says she shouldn't. He walks behind her and prepares a syringe full of something, as he says that sometimes terrible things happen to good people. It's all a fakeout, because the shot is meant for Giles. Ben administers it, but then he spazzes a little bit.
We next see him running towards the door and begging to be let out. They all try to figure out what's going on, but it doesn't take long, because Glory takes control of the body. There is general shock, but Glory springs right into action, killing Knight in Charge, taking out Buffy and Spike, and grabbing Dawn and running. Glory comes up against the wall of invisible goo, but she manages to punch through. Buffy has no such luck and runs back inside, calling for Willow. She already has her black eyes on, and is saying the reversal spell.
By the time Buffy gets back outside, all of the Knights have been slaughtered and Glory is gone. The rest of the Scoobies run out and see the damage. Spike says they should go for Ben's car and Spike and Xander run that way. Willow says they have to find Glory, but Buffy just sinks to the ground in resignation. Willow begs her to get up, but she doesn't move.
I've mentioned that I write the recaps as I watch the episodes. I usually watch for a few lines, pause, write and return. This recap took an extra long amount of time because I didn't want to pause, especially at the beginning. The pacing was fantastic, all about until the capture of the Knight in Charge and all the story that came after. I mean, it was useful story, I suppose. Plot progression story. But it slammed the brakes on an other wise action driven episode.
Sweeney: I think part of the problem is that the end of the episode was supposed to be tension filled because of Ben's presence. The thing is, they keep having Ben give Dawn these ominous looks like, "Maybe he'll kill her!" and while that scene with the Flattery Demons was enough to suggest that he has motive, it wasn't enough to convince me he'd do it. In that way, the suspenseful part of his presence was entirely rooted in his inevitable turning into Glory. However, they spent the whole time trying to make us focus on this lesser concern. It was like a magician trying to make you look at his left hand, but we already fucking knew he was doing the trick with his right. Just my two cents on why the pacing fell apart with Ben's arrival.
Lor: Great points, especially because I originally made a comment in here about how one of the Not Commercial Breaks was awkward, mostly because Ben was staring at Dawn, the music went DUN DUN DUN! and we were out. Not so, "dun, dun dun."
That said, I loved all the moments in the RV, against my snarky judgement. I mentioned earlier how the running away thing raises issues, and I get that Buffy isn't at her sharpest, but surely someone could've been all, "hey, B! Maybe we can take two, fast cars. Maybe that's a better escape plan…"
The Knights are pretty stupid. I don't know if we'll see more of them, but they are stupid so far.
While the set-up is a little groan worthy, we get a lot of development in this episode, both for individual characters and the over arching plot. It's hard for me not to appreciate that as a first time watcher.
K: Team Heartless Cow will be on her ottoman, because I really can't stand this episode. It's contrivance-y and features super shoddy stunt work and, as Sweeney said, the Ben thing was a total fail. There are moments of it that I love, but overall, it's a fail for me.
Next time on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ben and Glory fight over Dawn in S05 E21 – The Weight of the World.


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Overcoming adversity, Jasper claims tourney
Published 9:36 am, Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Playing sick with the flu.
How much adversity do you need?
With being a player down due to an injury, the Jasper Lady Bulldogs needed someone to step up.
That's exactly what they got, as freshman Alex Richardson, who missed the first the three games due to sickness, led the Lady Bulldogs to a 2-1 victory over the Nederland junior varsity soccer team in the championship game of the Lady Bruin Classic at the Lamar Soccer Complex this past weekend.
The Jasper girls finished the tournament 4-0, winning all their games to begin the season.
"I think I did good being sick, but it was a good game. We all worked together and we finished with a win," said Alex Richardson of her and team's performance in the championship game.
"It feels great. I am really excited about the season and for the girls. The they show a lot of promise, a lot of heart and that is important," said Jasper varsity girls head coach Gabby Carter.
Nederland had jumped out to the early 1-0 led when Logan Kemp scored on an unassisted break away with five minutes left in the first half.
During this time span, Lady Bulldog Pamela McFarland and Richardson had six shots on goal each in the first half.
Despite being down 1-0 at the half, the Jasper Lady Bulldogs had 15 shots on goal to only three for Nederland.
Richardson finally scored a goal off a pass from Emmalee Carter at the 27-minute mark of the second half to pull the Lady Bulldogs even with Nederland 1-1.
Seven minutes later Alex Richardson sealed the victory when she went unassisted between defenders to send a shot in to the goal from just inside the top of the box. She finished with 10 shots on goal in the game.
Lady Bulldog goalie Sierra Mitchell six stops in the win.
"I am just really excited about our team. I can all ready tell it is going to be a better year than last year," said Mitchell about their 4-0 start, "Everyone stepped up their game and I am so proud of them."
The Lady Bulldogs reached the championship game by winning three games straight games.
Sixteen schools
The first victory came when they beat the West Brook Lady Bruins in a shootout.
This game had finished tied 2-2 off goals from Carter and McFarland. Then, the Lady dogs outscored them in the shootout after goals from McFarland, Walker-Ann Wilson, and Marissa Durand.
In their second game of the tournament, the Jasper girls outlasted 5A Port Author Memorial junior varsity team 2-1.
The Jasper girls got goals from McFarland and Avery Richardson.
The goal by Avery Richardson was assisted by Wilson.
When the game was tied 1-1, Marissa Durand went down with an ankle injury. Hunter Eubanks, who is the team's other goalie, stepped in to play in the field due to the injury.
In the third game of the tournament for the Jasper girls, they were able to edge out the 4A Lumberton junior varsity squad 3-2 on a game-winning goal by freshman, Delia Salas with three minutes left in regulation.
The first goal came from Wilson, which was then followed by McFarland, who scored a goal form the top left hand corner of the box from about 15 yards out to tie the score 2-2. Avery Richardson assisted on the goal.
The Jasper girls will play their first home game this Friday night at 6 p.m.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Good morning, everyone. Another day of stalemate in store.
A judge orders the 62 senators back into the Senate chamber (at the same time!), but the GOP plan to appeal today, triggering an automatic stay. He said that New Yorkers could consider the senators "rude, inconsiderate and egotistical."
"Maybe it's time they just stopped all this craziness, all of their meshugas," said NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg of the senators.
Senate Democratic Leaders pen an op-ed calling for action on this 'D-Day.'
There are some who question Gov. David Paterson's dire June 30 deadline.
But a number of programs are set to expire.
And tax revenues continue to go down.
A Paterson aide departs to take a top post at the embattled New York Insurance Fund.
Bernie Madoff receives a 150 year sentence for his $65 billion ponzi scheme.
Bill Hammond welcomes back "tough" Gov. Paterson, who has "transformed himself – at least temporarily – from 98-pound weakling to Batman."
Rudy Giuliani admits he's considering a run for governor.
The Supreme Court rules in favor of states in Cuomo v. Clearing House Association.
A political upstart throws himself into the race to replace Rep. John McHugh.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand receives the NARAL-Pro Choice endorsement.
Rep. Peter King is given a plum spot on the Intelligence Committee, making it less likely that he'll challenge Gillibrand.
Despite the thundering editorials, lots of locals still like their individual Senators.
National news after the jump.
Despite a majority in the House and Senate, President Barack Obama will face a tough road ahead on his ambitious agenda.
The Supreme Court rules 5-4 overturned Sonia Sotomayor's ruling in a bias suit.
Though the ruling gives ammunition to her foes, it's not expected to imperil her confirmation.
The ruling gives little guidance on fair hiring.
Your car may say something about your political leanings, according to a poll.
Former Vice-President Dick Cheney is concerned about the Iraq pullout.
Obama welcomes gay and lesbian leaders to the White House, says making good on his campaign promises will take time.
The Supreme Court will take up a case that questions the ban on corporate donations in federal elections.
A former aide to John Edwards will write a tell-all book.


text:
Music was my first love and it would be my last! I like every kind of soul-based music!
Name: Dj Akim B.
Born: October 1968 in Bielefeld, Germany
Location: Bielefeld, Germany
Club Dj since 1988, Radio-DJ, Absolut Soul Radio Show on soulpower.fm
Born 1968 in Germany/Bielefeld starts his musical career 1988 in different clubs all over Germany. In the early years he was one of the soul guys who plays house music! In 2000 he was invited to spin at the Loveparade. In 2005 there was a break for years. After that he starts his second very soulbased career. In 2013 he starts his radio-show Absolut Soul Show, every thursday on SoulpowerFM/germany. In 2014 MaxK aka Markus Kater and Akim B release their first song ToNight, later Akim B met Laura Jackson and Warren Benson to do DJ and artist events in Germany.
In 2015 Dj Akim B. produced some edits and was invited to play with Sarah Watts and Lloyd Attril at the Summer Soul Laboe Fest. In 2015 he starts his radioshow on cruiseFM in London additionally every 2nd and last monday! In 2016 he was invited to on the first groove finders night and he plays again on the summersoul fest in Laboe. In october he is one of the two german guys who spread the word soul on the BolSoul in Croatia!
Akim on Facebook
Akim's Radioshow on Facebook
Akim on Mixcloud


text:
22But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ* might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abrahams offspring,* heirs according to the promise.
27 While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you! 28But he said, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!
1 O give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises,
and tell of all his marvellous works.
3 Rejoice in the praise of his holy name;
let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the Lord.
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face continually.
5 Remember the marvels he has done,
his wonders and the judgements of his mouth,
6 O seed of Abraham his servant,
O children of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgements are in all the earth.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
The Common Worship psalter is © The Archbishops Council of the Church of England, 2000.
Common Worship texts are available at http://www.cofe.anglican.org/worship/liturgy/commonworship/
Enter another bible reference:
v 2.2.7
10 February 2011


text:
Looks like Lidstrom is retiring. Announcement scheduled for tomorrow.
yup, one of the greatest if not the greatest dmen to ever play, people say orr, but Lidstrom just had the longevity
That's not what I heard on the radio. The press conference is to announce whether or not he will play next year, though IIRC when the Red Wings were eliminated I thought he said he was going to take until July to decide whether or not he was going to play. To be fair, I don't think at his age, it's right for him to continue playing as he just risks injury. I think he will stay with the club in some capacity though, who wouldn't want Lidstrom to be a player development coach for defencemen in your minor league system as well as at the NHL level? The guy still has his A game and can certainly play but his body can't handle an 82+ game season anymore. It wouldn't surprise me to see him get involved in player development and scouting if he does retire from playing.
Twitter is pretty much saying its a retirement announcement. ESPN, TSN, etc etc.. I even think I saw the NHL tweet about it. The Red Wings twitter just says an announcement though. We'll see, I guess.
Having said that, WOOOOOO $6 million more dollars for free agency and Holmstrom is almost certainly done as well.
Also, I might cry tomorrow when I watch his retirement announcement. I am actually tearing up thinking about it now. Love that guy. If I have a bigger hero in sports I can't think of him. I wanted to join the exchange student program and go to Sweden because of him, but that was before there was Rosetta Stone and there is nowhere remotely close to me to learn Swedish.
---------- Post added 2012-05-30 at 08:06 PM ----------
http://webchat.quakenet.org/?channels=#mmoc-hockey chat is up
---------- Post added 2012-05-30 at 08:38 PM ----------
And the Kings strike first with the fourth line.
I won't believe it until the regular season starts. I just can't believe it.
You can tell WoW changed the MMO for good when players started complaining about the amount of time they sink, into a time sink.
Such an epic, vintage Brodeur save
that was awesome, you don't often see the best player on the team get sprung for a breakaway in OT
Terrible game by the Devils. They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with most shots, and Brodeur was the only reason the score wasn't some insane number against them. Realistically, they should've been up at least 3-1 in the third and that it went to overtime to begin with was ridiculous, let alone the fact you had their entire line pinching on a really bad play that led to the game-winning goal.
I wanted to see them take the Cup this year for Marty, but they definitely did not deserve to win this game, and the reaction from their fans makes me believe they don't deserve to win the series. We'll see in Game 2, but I don't hold high hopes any longer.
You can tell WoW changed the MMO for good when players started complaining about the amount of time they sink, into a time sink.


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About sabco
Sabco… A household favourite since 1892
Sabco was founded in 1892 in Adelaide, South Australia as the South Australian Brush Company! Mr W.E. Hay formed the South Australian Brush Company with limited production facilities and just three employees. It quickly grew and like most manufacturing at the time, production was carried out by hand Craftsmen and the company's product range covered no more than household brushware.
In 1979, the company established a garden products division, acquiring Melbourne Company Dawn Plastics. Then in 1993, Sabco merged with Tomlin Industries to form a new company, Sabco Australia Ltd. Tomlin, this partnership saw them become leading manufacturers of cleaning products, metal and plastic homewares. They also manufactured Australia's largest range of metal bins, mop buckets, council and general tidy bins.
Day by day, week by week, the product range expanded and the business grew. It wasn't long before the company was the largest supplier of brooms & brushware in Australia, and SABCO became a well-known brand!
In 1981 Sabco's TIMER TAP received the Prince Philip Prize for Australian Design in the Consumer Products Division.
Several acquisitions and brand identity changes took place over years including acquisition by HWI in 2003, where a world sourcing program aimed to provide even more innovative products to Australian consumers.
May 2007 saw the introduction of Libman USA family to the Sabco family, with the company taking 50% ownership of Sabco Australia Pty Ltd. The Libman business brought with it a wealth of history and experience in the cleaning field, and made Sabco a truly international business. Established in 1896, Libman USA manufactures top quality products out of their highly automated facility in Illinios. The vertical integration of this plant allows for high quality standards to be maintained, resulting in a consistent level of quality to the consumer! Sabco will adopt the proven best practises from the Libman model, resulting in better service to our customers!
In 2009 The Libman Company took full ownership of the Sabco business. The long term future of the brand is secured thanks to their wealth of experience in the brushware category!
In 2016 Sabco opened an exciting new chapter, expanding into the UK and launching an exclusive range of products in Homebase stores nationally.
Sabco is steeped in heritage and we plan to be around for the next 100 years by constantly searching for opportunities to improve, by way of innovation and with a passion to provide our customers with the best quality product possible. We are driven by wanting to remain the trusted cleaning brand that consumers have enjoyed since 1892.


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Hi all.
I am searching for a development-platform for a customer. This is not for a one-time project but for future development, for websites, webservices, backend for existing systems, etc.
I always believed that the PHP-platform had the most options, but after having spent some time in various CMS solutions on .NET platform, I looks like that the CMS-systems are simply better on the .NET platform. This surprises me since we have more than 60+ CMS-systems on PHP according to wiki. I haven't look'ed through all tho. :) It is not possible to have experience on all systems so my comments may not be correct. So don't hesitate to correct me if I am wrong.
My customer has following requirements:
1. It must be SOA. I would state that a webpage is nothing more than a client on equal terms like an app on i.e. Android.
2. It is essential that there exist some form of frontend-component-engine to speed up development.
3. It must implement the MVC-pattern to make development flexible and easy to maintain.
4. It must have web services, primarily REST/JSON.
5. It must have template-/theme-engine.
6. It must have support for data-providers.
7. It must have jQuery as base for both frontend and backend.
8. It must have unit-testing.
9. It must support a number of databases, in this situation MySQL, MS SQL, Azure SQL.
I am not trying to start a war of religion, but I need facts so I can advise my customer. And I hope you guys can point me in the right direction.
Is Drupal the right choice? And if yes, what modules do I need to reach the goal?
Drupal 8 will answer most of
Drupal 8 will answer most of those out of the box, apart from support across MySQL and Micrsofoft SQL (a lot to ask!). Drupal 7 less so. On the question of Drupal and MVC see http://www.garfieldtech.com/blog/mvc-vs-pac which largely holds good for Drupal 7, though not Drupal 8.
In D7 the basic architecture is that a single request gives a single page response, with web services integration is with contributed add-on module(s). D8 will move to being able to serve pages, elements of a page, any chunks of data in non-html formats, in response to requests.
Not sure what you mean by jQuery as base for backend. If by backend you mean the kind of backend / frontend distinction in Typo 3 this does not map to Drupal architecture. In D7 jQuery and various libraries are included, with version is 1.4, upgradable by contributed module, 1.4 being the version current when D7 was released: D8 policy will be to allow Drupal core to change versions of jQuery with minor version upgrades.
Note D8 will look quite similar to D7 but is totally rewritten with strong integration of Symfony framework for handling http requests and routing, and with a strong move away from Drupal's legacy of procedural code. A D7 to D8 upgrade will probably be very difficult.
Commercial pros and cons: for good developers who are not yet Drupalistas, Drupal is notoriously easy to get wrong and under-estimate, both losing money for the developer and delivering a poor and troublesome product to the client at the same time. On the plus side, once you have earned Drupal skills (probably the hard way) there is a great deal of work and opportunity.
It is too early for a book on
It is too early for a book on D8, which is not fully stable and the best people to write the book are busy writing the code. The source is api.drupal.org which reflects the rich comments in Drupal core code. D8 is an alpha and will probably be out early 2014, and it will probably take a good year before the vast richness of contributed code for Drupal 7 (and even more for Drupal) gets anywhere close to getting up to speed.
Even before Drupal8, Drupal 7 has a lot of abstraction, including its own database layer which should allow the thousands of contributed modules all to use the same syntax, and raw db queries are discouraged. Various databases are supported, and for performance reasons there is more interest in extending support for MongodDB than in MS sql. After all, integrating a Drupal site with an existing db is usually a mistake architecturally: data should be migrating into a Drupal-ceentric environment where it can be access by the Drupal APIs, so calling on a MS SQL db is not that useful. There is a contributed module adding support of MS sql which I have not tried. Of course modules which, contrary to good practice, step outside the official db API can still fail on anything other than Mysql. Incidentally, putting any db query in the theme, with our without using the db API, is unfortunately common and is considered the ultimately sign of a developer who may be competent otherwise, but is hopelessly incompetent at Drupal.


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University of the Western Cape
Former Springbok wing Chester Williams has been appointed as the new head coach of the University of the Western Cape's rugby team.
He replaces former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, whose contract with the university has expired.
De Villiers had coached UWC in the 2nd-tier Varsity Shield competition since 2012.
Former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will make his Varsity Shield debut when his FNB UWC side take on the FNB TUT Vikings in Bellville on Monday. Two games will be Televised on Supersport.
- 16:30 – 18:45 SS1 FNB Varsity Shield – University Of Kwazulu-Natal v University Of Fort Hare
- 18:45 – 21:00 SS1 FNB Varsity Shield – University Of The Western Cape v Tshwane University Of Technology
South African Under 20 coach, Dawie Theron, expressed his satisfaction on the performance of his national training squad in their friendly match against the University of the Western Cape in Stellenbosch on Friday.
The SA Under 20's won the match 65-7 after a half-time lead of 31-0.
Junior Springboks coach Dawie Theron on Thursday named a strong starting line-up for the South African Under 20 training squad's match against the University of the Western Cape, to be played on Friday afternoon at the Markötter Sports Field in Stellenbosch.


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It's nighttime, the lights are off in your living room and you see your frightened mother standing there in the darkness peering out the window. Your mom clutches her phone and calls the police because she thinks, no, she knows that the man inside the car parked across the street from your home is the same man who's been tracking you down for years. He has found the both of you. So, your mom tells you to "Get your things," because you're moving for the fifth time. Well, that is exactly what Cameron Weaver, a teenage boy, and his mom experience in Allan Stratton's psychological thriller teen novel, The Dogs. Oh, and the maniac that is stalking Cameron and his mom, is his dear ol' Dad.
Cameron's mom rents a new place that is 800 miles away. They move into a creepy, dilapidated farmhouse way out in the country in a town called Wolf Hollow. On Cameron's first day at his new school, he hears rumors that his house is haunted. This is not good news for Cameron because he tends to imagine things. Ever since he and his Mom started running away from his Dad, Cameron has become more fearful and prone to having nightmares. The worst part is that his nightmares feel real because he never experiences the waking up part. Cameron's new environment has a negative effect on him because he begins to hear strange noises, such as dogs howling. He starts to see and converse with a young boy named Jacky McTavish, who lived in the same house decades ago. By the way, Jacky may or may not be dead. No one really knows what happen to him, except maybe the mysterious property owner, Art Sinclair, who used to be Jacky's best friend. When Cameron learns that a murder occurred at his house back in the early 1960s that involved Jacky, Jacky's parents and a pack of dogs, he starts his own secret investigation to learn what really happened to Jacky. As Cameron gets deeper into his investigation, he finds himself getting into trouble. Furthermore, he and others start to question his sanity.
For those who are looking for a psychological thriller with a bit of mystery, I definitely recommend that you get your paws on The Dogs. The writing is splendid—Allan Stratton sure knows how to set the tone and lure you into the story.


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The choice of a protective gear for a transformer depends upon several factors such as (i) type of transformer i.e. distribution transformer or power transformer (ii) size of the transformer (iii) type of cooling (iv) system where used i.e. its electrical location in the network and (v) the importance of service for which it is required.
For distribution transformers employed in rural area, the normal practice is to use the fuses for its protection against external faults but for urban distribution work, where discrimination is absolutely necessary, fuses will not serve the purpose.
For power transformers, the protection is to be provided usually against dangerous over-loads and excessive temperature rise. Dangerous over-loads may be due to external faults or the internal ones. External faults, however, are cleared by the relay system outside the transformer within the shortest possible time in order to avoid any danger to the transformer due to these faults. Hence the protection for internal faults is to be provided in such transformers. For protection of transformers against internal faults such as (i) earth fault (ii) short-circuit fault between phases, and (iii) turn to turn fault on the same phase, differential protection, (Merz-Price system of protection) is most suitable and widely used. The protection, core-balance leakage protection and combined leakage and overload protection. These systems of protection of transformers are described in brief below.
Transtutors is the best place to get answers to all your doubts regarding protection of transformers with examples. Transtutors has a vast panel of experienced in protection of transformers electrical engineering tutors who can explain the different concepts to you effectively. You can submit your school, college or university level homework or assignment to us and we will make sure that you get the answers related to protection of transformers.
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Order now and receive special bonus gifts at no extra cost.
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Congress Writes the Laws
* Inequities in Access to Health Care Related to Complicated Array of Insurance Products
* Increasing Cost Shifting Away from Employers and Insurers to Patients
* Shady Insurance Sales Practices that Deceive consumers
* Limits on Choice of Providers
* Constraints on Access to Preventative Care
* Increasing Political Pressure By Corporate Interests to Privatize the Financing of Health Care
* Diminished Quality of Health Overall as well as Longevity
Americans are being priced out of health care. A typical employment-based health insurance plan in 2003 was $8,800 split somehow between the employer and the employee according to economist Uwe Reinhart. According to Reinhart, these prices in recent years have been rising at a rate of 10% annually. If this inflationary trend continues at only a 10% rate according to Reinhart, small changes in productivity growth, product price levels, and health insurance premiums could easily drive the fraction of total compensation that is absorbed by health insurance to over 50%.
As a point of reference that is more current, the Towers Perrin's annual Health Care Cost Survey data revealed that "the average corporate health benefit expenditure in 2009 was $9,660 per employee-an increase of 6% over 2008 figures." The 6% growth rate made 2009 the fifth consecutive year of single-digit percentage increases. However, many companies and their employees continued to face record-high dollar costs in 2009, adding to concerns about affordability, particularly for lower-wage workers and pre-65 retirees.
Underscoring the growing affordability gap, the Towers Perrin survey database showed that total health care costs had increased by 33% between 2004 and 2009, while the employee share increased by 42% during the same period. In 2011, this trend continues unabated, despite the ballyhoo surrounding health care reform now under fire relative to issues of constitutional viability.
Towers Perrin Health Care Cost Survey Shows Average Annual Per-Employee Cost of $9,660 in 2009 -- And the Health Care Affordability Gap Widens
A St. Petersburg Times article ( 4/23/04 ), quotes Florida Governor Jeb Bush as a strong proponent of so-called "Bare Bones" health insurance policies with low premiums, minimal coverage and high deductibles. While state lawmakers lift coverage mandates for cost- effective preventative care such as mammograms and other screening tests on the recommendation of the Governor, citizens covered by these programs are the losers.
Solutions such as those initially proposed by Jeb Bush in 2004 represented the first giant leap toward health care rationing. These plans severely limit access to more sophisticated and costly health care services through onerous plan restrictions and deductibles.
As more and more people are forced by economic circumstance into these bare bones coverage plans, a broader cross section of society is shut out of modern health care services. Consequent to this phenomenon, modern health care becomes a luxury commodity provided mostly by those of relatively modest circumstance (Nursing staff), to those affluent enough to afford premium health care insurance coverage. This paradigm should not be allowed to persist!
Quoting the Tower Perrins Survey the statistical data demonstrates an impressive finding: "Analyzing the 2009 data by coverage level, the average reported cost of medical coverage for active employee-only coverage is $4,860 per year and, for family coverage, $14,244 per year. While these numbers are impressive in themselves, the impact of current health care costs and cost increases is starkly evident when compared with wage increases over the past eight to 10 years an analysis that reveals a growing affordability gap and significant erosion over time in compensation values and employee purchasing power.
Even though employees at high-performing companies (Fortune 1000) are doing better overall, they are still feeling the legacy impact of years of rising costs, despite the best efforts of their employers today to keep costs down." One very big reason why we as a nation should cease to wonder why we remain mired economically in what is an Economic Depression!
Analyzing this data from a macro-economic standpoint, such over concentration of both employer and employee dollars in one sector of the economy represents a considerable constraint on overall economic growth and employment, wages and company profitability. I encourage people to read the report of this survey via link above.
Burden of Cost Continues to Be Shifted To Employees
The cost of health care coverage continues to be shifted to the employee both current and retired leaving many with fewer and fewer options, often due to affordability going without. Again quoting the Towers Perrin Survey: "The big story here lies in the cost increases for pre-65 retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare," said Guilmette, "While successful employers have achieved sustainable levels of cost increases for their active employees, and Medicare eligible retirees have access to a robust Medicare Advantage product marketplace, costs for employees who retire before age 65 are skyrocketing. As employers continue to get out of the game of subsidizing and sponsoring retiree health care, pre-65 retirees are left to shoulder the cost burden."
The total annual cost for pre-65 retirees is the highest in the Towers Perrin survey, at $13,308. Pre-65 retirees are expected to pick up $6,960, or 52%, of this amount, which is 66% more than they paid just 5 years ago. Putting these numbers in historical context, the total cost in 2004 was $10,752, with retirees paying $4,200, or 39%. Making the comparison to today's numbers, total costs for pre-65 retirees have increased 24% over the past five years, but these retirees are now picking up a bigger share. Looking ahead, Towers Perrin predicts that, within five years, pre-65 retirees could be paying as much as 80% of the cost of health care coverage. According to Towers Perrin many of these employees are being directed into so-called Medicare Advantage Plans which involve the employee signing away their Medicare coverage for a Privately Administered Health Plan.
Medicare "Advantage" Plans... A Poor Substitute for Your Medicare!
It is amazing how easily most Americans merely take for granted the limitations on care available to them accorded them by their insurance companies. These inequities in my opinion as a health care provider, should not exist. If you have been a good law abiding citizen you should not have limitations on your access to quality health care spanning the full spectrum. The most outrageous aspect of the entire issue of financing access to health care in America is the charade that so many Americans at every socio-economic level have perpetrated upon them by shady insurance sales people.
People often believe erroneously that they have "good coverage" until they become ill with a serious disease such as cancer. The most nefarious aspect of this entire charade is that when signing up to trade their Medicare for an Advantage plan, the customer is not even aware of the differences in coverage between Medicare and the replacement plan that may well come back to harm them later both physically and financially.
While the warnings to Medicare beneficiaries are outlined in their manual of benefits, many continue to be lured away from their secure Medicare health care plan to the privately sponsored for profit Medicare Advantage (REPLACEMENT) plans by slick advertising both in print and paid television programming. While the content of the advertising features healthy active seniors boasting about how much cash they are saving in monthly premiums and freebies, nary a mention is made about what seniors are giving up in return for the freebies.
Never does one hear about whether or not a given plan includes 100 days of skilled nursing facility in-patient rehabilitation coverage as does Basic Medicare. No mention of exhorbitant co-pays... or the need to use in-network doctors which may exclude the patient from important specialty care without additional costs and most importantly, delays in treatment related to the need acquire approval from the Insurer.
As a provider of health care, I have witnessed the shenanigans associated with Advantage coverage where in my mind as a provider of care, the ONLY "advantage" associated with Medicare Advantage plans... accrues to the Insurer. Additionally, the choice of physicians is often limited to these unwitting Advantage clients, due to the fact that many of the best providers do not accept certain plans due to low/delayed reimbursement and/or circuitous and complicated claims processes.
As I have navigated the approval process working with families and patients to secure vital diagnostic/treatment services through the system put in place by corporate insurers via policies facilitated by corporate-owned politicians, I have characterized this phenomenon as "The Lawyering of Health Care."
"The Lawyering of Health Care"
Delay, Delay, Delay... A classic legal rejoinder! When at every step of the process there is delay, patient outcomes become jeopardized. There are enough delays in the process ordinarily speaking, arranging appointments with appropriate physicians for example impose some delay.
One example: When a woman has to seek out a surgeon on her own because there is no surgeon in her network who will perform the necessary procedure... (Mastectomy)... because the payment is so meager from the insurer to the surgeon... in light of the malpractice risk inherent to the provider when rendering care... leaving the patient to her own devices-finally finding a surgeon who would perform her surgery gratis after months of searching. No one should be placed in such a position... in America!
What I know about such issues comes from my own professional experience working with other medical professionals, case managers, patients and their families in search of treatment for serious illness and disability. For now, the best option for Americans currently eligible for Medicare is to keep their Medicare and purchase a good supplemental plan covering co-pays and prescription drugs. While this is the more expensive option up front, it is the best means of ensuring access to the care that you may need.
The Effect on Business and the Economy
The rising cost to business for employer based health care coverage places smaller employers at a competitive disadvantage with larger organizations relative to cost and competition for employees. This is unfair and is a significant drag on economic growth and employment. High costs for providing health insurance coverage diminish profits as well as employee earnings resulting in the major deficiency in our current economy... Decreased Aggregate Demand!
Meanwhile as premiums rise, health care services are restricted, and barriers to access are erected as a means of reducing costs to the Insurer... Result being, profits grow for the insurer at the expense of the insured and small business. Again, the prevailing direction is one favoring the shifting of risk and cost away from the insurer to the employer and the insured, as well as those unable to afford insurance, and the providers of health care who often provide basic care free of charge to those without.
Veterans Care
Veterans are increasingly bearing the brunt of budget cuts at the federal level. The closing of Veterans Administration health facilities displaces cost and risk from government to the consumer (Veterans). One veteran told me a story of brother who had to travel to Gainesville, Florida because the facility in Georgia had been closed as a result of budget cuts. The teller of this story, who was himself badly scarred both physically and emotionally from his Vietnam and Korean experience became emotional as he told me this. We have a whole new group of disabled veterans from depleted uranium Gulf War (1991 to present), blast injured amputees, traumatic brain injured and the psychologically (PTSD) scarred.
Our debt to our veterans must be repaid with the care necessary to put their lives back together while we the citizens encourage those in charge of deploying our military do so judiciously in defense of our nation and not on behalf of furthering the onus of corporate goals. I will support our Veterans access to appropriate and necessary health care services unwaveringly.
Source: http://www.johnrussellforcongress.com/page.asp?PageId=36


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Senior citizens learn tactics to prevent fraud
BOZEMAN, Mont. - State officials say senior citizens can be more vulnerable than any other age group to fall victim to fraud, and on Tuesday night, Bozeman senior citizens learned some important lessons on how to fight back against the crime. According to a study done by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, financial fraud costs Americans more than $50 million per year, and Americans 65 and older are more likely to be targeted by criminals and lose money. Falling victim to fraud is something Kay Nordlund knows well. "At 84 years of age, I'm learning not to trust hardly anyone because I have dealt with fraud a lot," Nordlund explained. She said she has dealt with email fraud, time share fraud, and most recently, credit card fraud. "One day I was...shopping and the next day I was in England and they said that didn't seem right," she said. "I said, 'yes that's true, I haven't been to England for several years.'" That's why, on Tuesday night, she came to learn how to better protect herself. Alex Ward with the Crime Prevention Association told a group of senior citizens that anyone can fall victim to fraud, so it is important to know the right tips and tricks. "We're trying to create fraud fighters," Ward said. "People who can go out into the community and they can recognize red flags that may indicate that somebody is being victimized." Residents at the Bozeman Senior Center heard from Ward, as well as other speakers like Cindy Palmer from the office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance. "Older people have saved nest eggs," Palmer explained. "They've paid for their homes and the con men know that's where the money is." Palmer said seniors can be especially vulnerable to the crime, because they often have money saved up. So, she said, it's important people know all the different types of fraud, from investment fraud to fake sweepstakes, so if they're being targeted, they know what to do. "Stop, get your emotions out of the equation and do your due diligence," Palmer said. "investigate, talk to people, talk to the experts." "It's hard when you're doing the right thing and you're careful with all your cards," Kay said. Nordlund said for her and the other participants, the seminar showed them how to keep their money and themselves safe. Here are some tips to help you avoid fraud: Whether someone contacts you through phone, email or in person, end the conversation. Practice saying, "no, I am not interested." Officials said knowing your exit strategy in advance makes it easier to deflect the situation. Turn the tables and ask questions, and talk to someone else first. Discuss potential investments or business opportunities with your family or a trusted financial professional.


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Representative Nancy Nathanson, House District 13
Why we endorsed Rep. Nancy Nathanson
Rep. Nancy Nathanson has been a long-time participant in the conversations around revenue reform, in hopes to move Oregon's public schools toward a more stable and adequate funding system. She plays a particularly important role in this conversation as co-chair of the Ways and Means (budget) Committee.
Since her second term as a legislator, Rep. Nathanson has emphatically spoken up in support of more career technical education in her local schools. She has promised to fulfill the will of the voters and ensure that Measure 98 is fully implemented after passage.
Rep. Nathanson has been in office since 2006 and she scored a solid 85 percent on her scorecard.


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Man indicted in bathroom camera case
Updated 7:42 pm, Thursday, June 14, 2012
A man accused of illegally recording a woman in the rest room of Tony's Barbecue in Groves was indicted Thursday on a charge of improper photography or visual recording.
Alfredo Loredo-Cruz, 29, was arrested last month after Groves Police received a call from a woman who said she found a cell phone in record mode in the wastebasket of the women's rest room at Tony's Barbecue and Steakhouse on Twin City Highway.
Groves City Marshal Jeff Wilmore previously told The Enterprise that an employee told police he left the phone in the bathroom to check the camera out and make sure it worked.
Loredo-Cruz is being held in the Jefferson County Correctional Facility on a $10,000 bond. He faces up to two years in the state jail if convicted of the state jail felony.
An indictment is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed to be innocent unless proven guilty.
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