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By Hindustan Times
Her last film was Jodi Breakers earlier this year, but Bipasha Basu agrees that Raaz 3 is her true comeback vehicle. "It's definitely a new beginning," she says. In her usual bold manner, Bipasha opens up about her movies, her vulnerable moments and the time when she reached saturation point.
Raaz 3 is your reunion with the Bhatts. Why did it take you nine years to return to the camp?
Vishesh Films sparked off my interest in acting and since then we've shared a great bond. Even before Raaz 3, they had offered me a few other films, but I wanted to do something like Raaz (2002) or Jism (2003). When I accepted Jism 10 years ago, the entire fraternity cautioned me against making a mistake. But I brought a new woman into Hindi cinema. Fortunately, the film did well.
My role in Raaz 3 too has been extremely taxing. The Bhatts and I were unsure of how I would pull it off. I was scared initially. but, once we started shooting, I got under the skin of my character, Shanaya.
Bipasha Basu in Raaz 3.
Would you say this role is a catharsis of sorts? Do you think it runs parallel to the lives of real actors?
Absolutely! People think we're glamourous creatures but our lives are like waves in the ocean. There's fame, money and power, but we're emotional too. In Raaz 3, Bipasha Basu's reality collides with Shanaya's!
I probably wouldn't go to the extent of doing what Shanaya does. But reaching the top and then dealing with all the lows — professional and personal — has not been easy. Like all actors, even I'm a prisoner of pain. It's scary.
Recently you said on a social networking site that you're vulnerable. Please elaborate.
There was a time when I was damaged. I had reached a saturation point. During Raaz 3, there came a point when I couldn't take it anymore.
I smiled through various embarrassing and obnoxious questions but only I knew what I was going through. When you show your wounds to people, they poke deep into them. Eventually, I had a breakdown on the sets.
In the last two years, things have changed for you personally. Are you a better person now?
I've come to realise that I made a few mistakes in the past, I ignored myself because at the time my priorities were different. But I owned up to it all.
And now, I'm wiser. You can say that I've evolved over these last couple of years and I'm happier than I've ever been.
After your break-up with John Abraham, there have been reports of you getting close to Shahid Kapoor and Salman Khan. True?
I'm a social person. I have friends and acquaintances whom I meet and have a good time with occasionally. I don't know why people have to jump to conclusions when they see two people together. Just because I'm single, does not mean than every man I meet is my new boyfriend. Trust me, the day I find my perfect man, I will not hide him from the world. And I won't even delay walking down the aisle then.


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Laguna has lost a treasure. After a vigorous battle with cancer, Dennis Morin passed on Dec. 31. He was only 66, way too young for a man with such an appetite and energy for life.
Dennis was a bon vivant, a raconteur, a connoisseur and other French words. He founded and took public one of Orange County's largest software companies, Wonderware, helping many achieve financial and career success. He was famous for throwing lavish company parties, like renting the New Orleans Superdome for 80,000 customers, and booking groups like The Pointers Sisters and Neville Brothers.
He went on to build Laguna's famous Rock House, the partially submerged home near Aliso Beach that is one part eco-friendly, one part Catalan and all parts pleasure. This is the ultimate bachelor pad with sexy curves, sunken living room, home theater and hot tub that would make Hugh Hefner blush. Dennis spent four years designing and engineering every detail of the house, and it shows. It is a masterpiece.
Dennis spent most of his time on the Rock in his immensely dense kitchen, not in size, but in the accouterments of a working chef: books, cutlery and the latest in technology, like a sous-vide slow cooker. I am a somewhat obsessed foodie who has lived in Italy, and I have never known a cook with as vast a repertoire as Dennis. From the finest French to every continent in Asia, to down home barbecue, clam bakes and pizza, Dennis always raised the bar on panache, presentation and pairings (he was an inspired mixologist as well). And he lavished all of this on his friends in the most delicious settings, eschewing the dining room for the coziness of the floor in front of the fire.
But it wasn't his entertaining that drew innumerable women — and men — to Dennis. Nor was it the seductive Rock House. What always won the day was Dennis' searing intellect, charm and humor. He was, quite simply, always the smartest guy in the room. His B.S. meter was somewhere on a par with Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, and he spent the better part of his battle with cancer equally battling with his Republican friends on Facebook. With logic, not name calling.
He worked tirelessly (and hilariously) to point out hypocrisy within the party, and equally hard to support Barack Obama. He believed if he changed one mind, it was worth it. I believe he left us feeling the world was in a better place with Obama.
Dennis also moved people with his clear and lucid ruminations on his journey with the disease. He expressed his fears and stoicisms about death freely. It was a balm, and a clever and poignant way to keep friends in the loop without the tedium of repeating it over and over. What else was special about Dennis? He could fly a plane, sail a boat, race cars, write computer code and expound on science. When Apple released the iPhone, Dennis released some of the first and most successful apps — as a sideline!
But I believe most would agree that Dennis' most endearing quality was his generosity of spirit. Behind his laconic New England surliness was a pussycat who loved to entertain, laugh, love and take care of people. That's what chefs do. And entrepreneurs. I think of him as that rare dichotomy of businessman and artist. He was a trenchant writer, took amazing pictures, played guitar, cooked beyond comprehension and was always the best thing on Facebook.
He was a sensualist and incurable romantic. And he loved. Madly. Late in life, he discovered the love of his life, Annie Speck. His love for her simply bubbled over. I was with him when they briefly split up, and saw his emotions crack wide open. He fought to win her back with public proclamations of love so naked that it made women swoon, and men, well, a little defensive.
So if there was one light always shining bright in his battle with cancer, it was Annie. He felt her tender heart by his side through it all. They were an inexhaustible team, chasing down every avenue for a cure. Annie would drive while Dennis searched for the best nearby ethnic restaurant to buoy their spirits after hospital visits. He was knocked out by her beauty and spirit. It softened him.
Before Annie, he used to grimace for pictures. After Annie, it was all smiles. Their romance was way too short, and I'm sad for Annie and the grief she will feel for too long a time. But she will look back at the years spent with the man she called Bubboo and see it as the gift it was. One for the history books.
Those of us who he touched — and there were many — are already feeling the sting of loss, because we know it will be quite some time before we see the likes of someone as talented and interesting as Dennis Morin.
BILLY FRIED is a resident of Laguna Beach.


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Aaron Rodgers hasn't always had a great relationship with the quarterback he first backed up and then replaced, Brett Favre. But Rodgers is glad to hear that the Packers will retire Favre's number next year.
Rodgers says he was talking to the higher-ups within the Packers organization to express his belief that it was past time to smooth things over with Favre, and he's pleased that Favre will be honored in Green Bay.
"I've kind of been on the forefront of getting this thing done, you know, in my own way," Rodgers told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "I wanted to make sure my voice was out there and behind Brett coming back. I think it's important to bring him back into the fold. It was a great thing to be able to announce that and retire his number and put his number in the Packer Hall of Fame, which is obvious – of course it's going to happen. He's one of the greatest Packers of all-time and one of the greatest NFL players of all-time. It's good to get him back here and hopefully get him here in the fall, as well."
The last time Favre was at Lambeau Field, he was booed as he led the Vikings in a loss to a Rodgers-led Packers team. When Favre returns, he'll be cheered. By Green Bay fans, and by Rodgers.


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Hope College junior Jeana Longoria of Howard City has won a scholarship from the Kalamazoo-Muskegon chapter of the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA).
Applicants for the $1,000 awards competed on the basis of essays on why they chose to pursue a career in nursing. Longoria was recognized during the chapter's award banquet on Friday, May 1, at the Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids. She was one of five recipients along with students from Grand Rapids Community College, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan.
Longoria is a nursing major at Hope. In the fall, she received one of only six $500 scholarships awarded statewide to Hispanic students by the National Association of Hispanic Nurses-Michigan Chapter (NAHN-MI). After graduation, she hopes to pursue a doctorate in nursing.
Her co-curricular activities at the college include the Nykerk Cup competition; playing on the junior varsity volleyball team; and playing goalie on the women's lacrosse team, which is a club sport at Hope.
Longoria is the daughter of Robert and Dianne Longoria of Howard City. She is a 2007 graduate of TriCounty High School.
Founded in 1971, the NBNA is a non-profit organization designed to provide a forum for collective action by African American nurses to investigate, define and determine the health care needs of African Americans and to implement change to make available to African Americans and other minorities health care commensurate with that of the larger society. NBNA represents 150,000 African American registered nurses, licensed vocational/practical nurses, nursing students and retired nurses from the United States, Caribbean and Africa, with 79 chartered chapters in 34 states.


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By Rick Eymer
Palo Alto Online Sports
No matter who plays at the top of the singles ladder next year, she will have earned it. The Stanford women's tennis team will not be lacking talented players.
Case in point: Sophomore Stacey Tan reached the championship match of the NCAA singles tournament and she normally played at No. 5 singles, with some appearances at No. 4.
Tan, who won 11 of the 13 three-set matches in which she was involved this year, was as unlikely an NCAA finalist as, say, Hilary Barte claiming the No. 1 spot as a freshman.
Tan lost in the finals to California's top-ranked Jana Juricova, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2), but it was an experience she can use when the Cardinal venture forward.
"I loved the energy and the support," Tan said afterward. "College tennis is such a different atmosphere than junior tennis."
Tan became the lowest ranked (No. 43) player to reach the championship final since 1998, when No. 51 Ania Bleszynski of Stanford lost to Duke's Vanessa Webb 6-3, 6-4. She was the 10th unseeded player to reach the final in the 30-year history of the event.
"It's been a long week. Each match is really tough," Tan said. "It's just tiring and exhausting and taking it one day at a time really does help, especially knowing that you put 100 percent of what you have out there every day, doing what you can to recover from the match and getting ready for the next day."
Tan won over 76 percent of her matches (32-10) this season, and had an 81 percent success rate (13-3) against nationally-ranked opponents. Barte had similar numbers as a freshman.
Barte and sophomore Mallory Burdette (who played at No. 2 singles) are the NCAA doubles champions after beating Clemson's Josipa Bek and Kari Wong, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0, in the finals.
It was a fitting climax for Barte, who also won the doubles title last year with Mallory's older sister, Lindsay Burdette.
"I couldn't be happier to leave on top," said Barte, who will play professional tennis during the summer and then plans to go abroad in the fall to finish her degree. "To go out on top in my last match in a Stanford uniform; I couldn't write a better script."
Barte and Burdette, who won their final 15 doubles matches in succession, became Stanford's 14th doubles titlists, and the seventh since the since the NCAA adopted its current format in 1982. The duo won 30 of their 36 matches and was 19-5 against ranked opponents.
"This is great," Burdette said. "After losing the deciding match it's like nothing worse could happen. I'm convinced it's about how much hard work you put in."
Freshman Nicole Gibbs is another candidate for the top spot in singles. She reached the semifinals of the singles tournament, beating Barte in the quarterfinals to do so. Gibbs took Juricova to a third-set tiebreaker before losing.
"I'm excited about the way I performed this week," Gibbs said. "I can see myself winning the NCAA tournament. I want to see another Stanford-Florida championship match next year. We have the means to get there and the means to win it. We will be equally as solid."
Barte agrees.
"There are so many great things to come in the future," she said. "I can't wait to be in Athens next year cheering them on."
Freshman Kristie Ahn is another potential No. 1 singles player for Stanford. A sprained ankle kept her from competing at full strength during the postseason. She won the Pac-10 singles title and carried a 24-match winning streak into the tournament.
Ahn and Gibbs were both undefeated in dual-match play, with each dividing their playing time between No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles.
They will be joined by blue-chip prospect Ellen Tsay, a product of Monte Vista High in Danville. She is ranked sixth in the country. She is Stanford's lone recruit, though she gives Stanford the seventh-highest rated recruiting class in the nation. Duke and USC, each with four recruits entering in the fall, are ranked 1-2.


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Someone went wacko on the Wookie.
Harrison Ford stopped by "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Wednesday night, where it seemed that the once-and-future Han Solo had a bone to pick with his erstwhile onscreen sidekick, Chewbacca.
As he chatted with Kimmel, Ford declined to answer questions about the wildly anticipated new "Star Wars" movie and his reported involvement in it. (When asked point-blank by a Chicago TV station last month whether he was coming aboard, he simply said, "I think it's happening.")
NEWS: George Lucas says Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are signed up for "Star Wars VII"
So Kimmel did the next best thing: He trotted out a bunch of audience members dressed up as "Stars Wars" characters--including Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia--to pose innocuous questions, all of which left the characteristically stoic actor unfazed. That is, until his Wookie cohort stood up to growl a question.
"You son of a bitch, what do you want?" Ford railed, immediately slipping into character as his cantankerous "Star Wars" alter ego.
"You're the one who couldn't keep it in your furry pants!" Ford added, to which Kimmel replied, "Actually, he doesn't wear pants."
"I rest my case!" wailed Ford, as he continued to chastise Chewie: "You're so full of s--t!"
When the host asked what led to their falling-out, the actor snarled, "He knows what he did. She was my wife, you Wookie sack of s--t!"
After he'd seemingly had enough, Ford proceeded to storm out of the studio: "I'm outta here! And you," he snarled, pointing to Chewbacca, "I'll see you in hell!"
Let's hope the two patch up their differences soon: On Wednesday, Disney chairman Alan Horn announced at Las Vegas' CinemaCon that the studio plans to release a new "Star Wars" movie every year starting 2015.
Disney will be kicking things off with "Star Wars VII," with the next two installments in the trilogy arriving every two years. In between, the studio plans to release spin-off films based on characters from George Lucas' sprawling sci-fi universe.
PHOTOS: Check out the best of the Stars Wars-Disney memes
Preproduction on "Star Wars VII" is already ramping up: Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told attendees at CinemaCon, where she was honored with the 2013 Pioneer of the Year award, that the creative team is in the process of locking down a screenplay.
"We're working on getting a script," she said, per published reports, adding that producers have been working with "Star Wars VII" director J.J. Abrams "every week."
"We're having a great time, and I think we're going to come up with something really wonderful," Kennedy said.
A new hope indeed.
GALLERY: Star Wars stars--where are they now?


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Fall is a terrific time to be a reader. Publishers shake off their summer doldrums and get down to business again. And writers? Well, writers settle in also and put out big books.
Over the next few months alone, we'll see new releases from an array of authors: Dave Eggers, Dana Goodyear, Elizabeth Gilbert and Donna Tartt among them. There are so many new titles that it's impossible to keep track of them. As to what we are to make of this, I choose to find it reassuring, a reminder that, despite the vagaries of the industry, the fundamentals haven't changed. Publishers still gear up for fall like kids getting ready to go to school and readers are still the ones who benefit.
Of course, no one can read everything, but that's part of the point also, that we get to pick and choose. So in that spirit, here are six books about which I am particularly enthusiastic as we make the slow turn into fall.
"At Night We Walk in Circles" by Daniel Alarcón (Riverhead: 384 pp., $27.95)
Alarcón's previous book, "Lost City Radio," was a revelation -- a novel, set in an unnamed South American country, that was equally mythic and political. His follow-up, "At Night We Walk in Circles," is in some ways related, the story of an actor named Nelson, cut adrift in his own city, until he ends up on tour with a political theater troupe. As in "Lost City Radio," Alarcón's purpose here is to disorient us, stripping away markers of place and identity, until we have to see the world on different terms. "Perhaps this is what he got the part — his youth," Alarcón observes of Nelson. "His ignorance. His malleability. His ambition. The tour would begin in a month. And that is when the trouble began." Oct. 31
"The Lowland" by Jhumpa Lahiri (Alfred A. Knopf: 340 pp., $27.95)
Lahiri, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her first book, "Interpreter of Maladies," is among our most nuanced fiction writers, an observer of the American Bengali community and the vagaries of immigrant life. In this, her second novel, she extends that vision to explore the lives of two brothers in India and the United States. Lahiri is a deft observer of both family and culture, of the rhythms we cannot escape. "Certain creatures laid eggs that were able to endure the dry season," she writes. "Others survived by burying themselves in mud, simulating death, waiting for the return of rain."September 24
"The Kraus Project" by Karl Kraus, translated and annotated by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 320 pp., $28)
Who else but Jonathan Franzen would come up with this: an annotated collection by the early 20th century Viennese satirist Karl Kraus, who was an early critic of media and technology? It's a remarkable oddball project, featuring five essays in German and English, along with Franzen's commentary. In many ways, Franzen and Kraus are kindred spirits, willfully out of tune with the superficialities of their times. Such a confluence — two writers talking, across the space of 100 years — gives the book its unlikely charm. Oct. 1
"Urban Tumbleweed: Notes from a Tanka Diary" by Harryette Mullen (Graywolf: 128 pp., $15 paper)
How much do I love the idea for this book? Mullen — a professor at UCLA and the author of seven previous books of poetry, including the National Book Award finalist "Sleeping With the Dictionary" — has here appropriated the traditional Japanese verse form of the tanka and used it to create a journal of her daily life. Mullen is a walker, and in many ways, this is a walker's diary, a record of her interactions with the city at the level of its streets. But even more, it is a portrait of her mind in the act of reflection, sharply observed and deeply felt. Nov. 5
"Doctor Sleep" by Stephen King (Scribner: 532 pp., $30)
King's 1977 novel "The Shining" is the scariest book I've ever read. The story of a writer and his slow descent into possession and madness, it's like "King Lear" on acid, in which there is no escape from the ghosts that haunt us inside and out. In "Doctor Sleep," King picks up the story of Dan Torrance, son of the protagonist in "The Shining," who as a 5-year-old played a major role in the earlier book. Dan wants nothing more than to forget, to get out from under his tormented heritage, but King has other plans for him, leaving him no other option than to come to terms, finally, with his past. Sept. 24
"The Crooked Mirror: A Memoir of Polish-Jewish Reconciliation" by Louise Steinman (Beacon: 224 pp., $26.95)
Steinman, who curates the Aloud series at the Central Library, here seeks to make a literary reconciliation: exploring the treacherous subject of Polish Jewry through the filter of her family's roots. It's an elegant endeavor, deft and revealing in both private and public ways. As in her previous effort, "The Souvenir," Steinman is adept at questioning assumptions, encouraging us to see the world, and history, in broad and complex terms. "Until I went to Poland," she tells us, "I hadn't realized that it was a country in my head too." Nov. 5


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"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" ' David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920's
'There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.' ' Ken Olson (President of Digital Equipment Corporation) at the Convention of the World Future Society in Boston, 1977.
February 1, 2004 ' This afternoon Super Bowl XXXVIII will be played and viewed by millions of people across the world. Twenty years ago, during Super Bowl XVIII, Apple Computer unveiled the Macintosh in what is arguably one of the most famous technology oriented advertisements ever broadcast (does anyone remember what other computers were advertised? Hmmm?). This commercial was extraordinarily impressive upon this recently graduated double E with his impassioned concern for technology's effects, good and bad, upon society.
Twenty years later most of those concerns remain and a number of new ones have emerged. As negative examples: One year ago today space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry. This weekend it is reported that computers to be used for e-voting in Maryland have 'vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious individuals' while the Mydoom virus overwhelmed the website of a small software company, effectively knocking that company off the Internet.
On the positive side, this article is being written on a laptop computer, wirelessly connected to a broadband modem. Apple has moved beyond computing and into consumer electronics with its iPod mobile music device and iTunes music service (and is partnering with Pepsi to make available 100 MILLION legally downloadable tunes according to the advertisement broadcast seconds ago).
What does all of this have to do with jazz? Well, obviously you wouldn't even be reading this if it wasn't for a host of technologies developed over the past century plus.
Eventually, you may not even be hearing jazz without a connection to the Internet (barring hanging out at your local jazz nightclub). It's left to you, gentle reader, as to whether or not that is a good or bad thing (but this jazz fan is excited to think on the inevitability for seeing and hearing live music from half way around the planet, performed by musicians that might never ordinarily be seen or heard).
But as a legitimate concern, how does this impact the commerce of conventional audio/video distribution? Equally importantly, what impact does this have on the working musician?
One musician who has thought about these issues is guitarist/composer Issi Rozen whose latest (and third) recording, the aptly named Dark Beauty, was recently released on his own label New Step Music as both a conventional CD and as a downloadable MP3. Issi Rozen's second recording Homeland Blues was picked as one of the top 20 CDs in 2000 by WBEZ radio in Chicago, while in 1999, he won the "Best Jazz Performer" award from Boston Magazine in its annual "Best of Boston" issue.
In addition to performing and recording, Issi Rozen also teaches. In 2002, he joined the faculty of the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he teaches guitar and music theory.
Of Dark Beauty, AAJ contributor Michael P. Gladstone writes:
'Most of the 71 minutes are comprised of Rozen's own compositions with a lesser-known Charlie Parker tune, 'Segment,' and a traditional Israeli song, 'Sheharhoret' (the translation of the album's title), included'I have seen a lot of references to Pat Metheny and Jim Hall as Rozen's guitar influences and, in fact, having been in receipt of this subliminal observation, much of his playing has elements of both guitarists. What separates Rozen from the pack is his unhurried pace and articulation of clear, bell-like notes. Also, Rozen's compositions have a distinct Middle Eastern flavor, which is only natural, having been exposed to both Arabic and Israeli musical influences.' (All About Jazz, January 2004)
To mark the release of Dark Beauty and the inception of New Step Music, Issi Rozen graciously agreed to this interview, which was conducted via e-mail during Dec. 2003/Jan. 2004.
All About Jazz: Would you please tell the AAJ readers about where you were born, raised, and what your earliest musical memories are?
Issi Rozen: I was born in Haifa, Israel but moved to Tel-Aviv at an early age. I lived in Tel-Aviv until I moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. My earliest musical memories are the lullabies my mother used to sing. Interestingly, they were mostly in minor keys as most of traditional Israeli songs.
AAJ: What led you to choose guitar as instrument of choice?
IR: I saw a TV show with kids playing guitars and immediately asked my father to buy me one. I was 10 years old at that time.
AAJ: How would you describe your musical education? Formal? Informal? Both?
IR: Both. I took guitar lessons for many years and I attended Berklee but a lot of my musical education came from listening to records, transcribing music and learning from musicians I played with.
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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
With elections in Israel just around the corner (January 22nd), the Arab world holds its breath in anticipation to find out who is going to win in the polls.
More than 30 parties compete for their place under the sun in Israel's 120-seat parliament (the Knesset). Like in the United States, Israel's parties fall into the left or right (even though a new trend of centrist parties is also emerging).
The right-wing camp is largely dominated by a joint party of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Called Likud-Beiteinu, it is poised to take up to 34 seats. On the left of the spectrum is the Labor party (that promises to address Israel's economic woes) with up to 21 spots, followed by Netanyahu's former adviser, Naftali Bennett, and his Jewish Home Party (that speaks out against freezing settlement activity in the West Bank) that's predicted to win up to 15 seats.
To form a government in the Jewish state, a party would have to win a 60 percent ruling majority, something that no bloc can currently boast; meaning that whoever wins the elections would have to form a coalition. According to some experts, the possibilities here are limited. If Netanyahu gets re-elected (as most polls predict), he might want to side with either other right-wing parties (like Bennett's) or a mix of religious and centrist blocs.
Israeli Arab Apathy
This could explain why many Arabs inside Israel prefer to give up on voting, saying they don't believe it's going to change things on the ground. According to a report by theworld.org, nearly 80 percent of Arab voters took part in the national election only a decade ago. This time around, however, less than 45 percent are expected to turn out.
Arab World Not Optimistic
Israel's neighbors are not optimistic about the results either. Amr Zakariya, an Egyptian scholar and a founding member of Afaq, an institute for Middle East Studies in Cairo, who is also known for his Facebook page "Talking Peace," said Israel-Egypt relations would not improve following the elections.
"Nothing will change and everyone knows it. This topic is not even covered by the Egyptian media because everyone knows the outcome. It's not the first time that Israel goes for elections, and it's not the first time that Netanyahu wins. That's why a change in foreign policy is out of question," he told Israel Today, adding that even though Israelis are now more concerned with the economy than with security, they are still most likely to prefer Netanyahu over any other candidate.
"He is a strong leader. But he might need to side with other parties (including the religious Shas) to form a government, he is still the one that has most chances to win".
Addressing the preferences of both the Egyptian government and the people, Zakariya said that Cairo didn't see much of a difference between the parties.
"For Egyptians, it doesn't really matter who comes to power, they are all the same. The change of the government (even if it does take place) will only shift actors but the show will remain unaltered," he charged, conceding that it would still make more sense for Egyptian policy makers to support a strong party like Likud-Beiteinu rather than one that doesn't have the backing of the people.
Strained Israel-Egypt Relations Regardless
Could Israel still hope to be "on friendly terms" with Egypt regardless of who wins the election? Zakariya was skeptical. "The Egyptian government will not hold talks with any Israeli government. Negotiations and friendly chitchats like those held under Mubarak are not going to happen under the current regime dominated by Islamists".
However, Zakariya also conceded that some joint projects were still possible. "We could still coordinate our efforts in the field of security, especially in the Sinai that has lately seen increased terrorist activity. But I don't think cooperation between the two states would extend beyond that. So it doesn't really matter which government comes to power, Egypt's top-brass is not going to favor it".
Familiar Scapegoat
Analyzing what he says is the root of the problem, Zakariya insisted that Israel's mistake came from its desire to make peace with each Muslim country separately instead of tackling what most Arabs claim is the core issue: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "What Israelis fail to understand is that all Muslim states are united. Peace with us will only be achieved if Israel solves the Palestinian issue," he summed up.
Palestinians See Gloomy Future
Will Israeli-Palestinian peace happen after January's elections? Dimitri Diliani, a spokesman for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, didn't pin his hopes high, saying the situation was unlikely to change after the polls.
"There is a huge difference between hoping and being realistic. We hope that the Israeli public will choose to oppose the radical right, which bogs down any progress in both the country's security issue and its technological, cultural or economic development. Unfortunately, Israel's public is detached from realities of the Middle East, being brainwashed by the right-wing dominated media and its radical thinking," Diliani claimed.
Addressing the possible outcome of the elections, Diliani was certain that even if Netanyahu remains in power, his government won't last long. "Israel's isolation is going to increase and this will have a negative political and economic effect on the citizens of Israel. Why would Israelis want to deliberately suffer by choosing such government?" Diliani said as he parroted left-wing Israeli talking points.
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
What will these elections mean for average Palestinians? Not much, according to Diliani. "If you are a Palestinian who doesn't believe in a two-state solution, then the coalition of Netanyahu-Lieberman is the best thing you can possibly wish for. But that's radical thinking. Only a minority of Palestinians supports such a view."
If that's the case, then any improvement in Israel-Palestinian Authority relations (or Israel and the Arab community in large) is nowhere in sight. "Even though I don't think that our relations will improve after the right wins the elections, Palestinians will continue their struggle to establish a state," stated Diliani.
Message for Israelis
Despite his gloomy predictions, Diliani said he had a message for Israelis: "The Israeli public should know that voting for the radical camp is voting for instability and economic degradation. But it's hard to point the blaming finger at the Israeli public. My people also made a mistake, choosing Hamas [in the 2006 Palestinian general election]. Sometimes emotions overwhelm the mind; it's only natural. But we [Palestinians] learnt from past blunders. We hope that the Israeli public will do the same".
[Editor's note: It should be pointed out that Diliani's Fatah party has an ongoing rivalry with Hamas, which colors his viewpoint. The fact is that most Palestinians do not view their voting for Hamas as a mistake.]
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Rihanna is a Gangsta Goth Geisha in 'Princess of China' Pics
Rihanna is a bad, bad girl, and not just because she tells us so with her badgalriri handle for Instagram. In the photos she shared while shooting the video for 'Princess of China,' her duet with Coldplay, Ri is blowing smoke, flipping the bird and looking all gangsta goth geisha.
In one shot, Ri uses her mouth suggestively to create a smoke ring. She uses the #thuglife hash tag, too. Check out those eyelashes. In another, she's rocking an ornate geisha hairstyle/head piece. That thing looks like it could hurt someone. We can't stop staring at her mega lashes, either. The looks are dramatic and bold.
She flips the bird in another shot, wearing a long, black, strapless dress, with her hair carefully designed atop her head. The dress has an up-to-their slit, where she shows off her shapely and toned legs.
If Rihanna is the Princess of China, then we accept her as one of our sovereigns. We're not worthy. Judging by the costuming in these shots, we're in for one helluva a video with 'Princess of China.' It begs the question, though. Is Chris Martin dressing up?


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An Airplane, a Missile, and an Unfathomable Moment in the War Against HIV
July 18, 2014
By now, you've almost certainly heard the news: Several of the people who lost their lives in the destruction of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine were on their way to the same place where I am now: Melbourne, Australia, to be a part of the 20th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2014).
I don't think the reality has sunk in yet for many of us here. It's too fresh, too unreal. There are pre-conference events taking place, previously planned gatherings continuing on. People are smiling, though many of them likely feel that they should not be. People are warmly greeting friends and colleagues they haven't seen in months or years, while wondering silently if this may be the last time they ever see them.
It's a strange thing: In the vast global community of those who fight HIV/AIDS, death is an ever-present enemy. We lose people to HIV every day -- by the thousands, in fact. So many deaths to HIV, day in and day out, for so many years now. We've become inured to it. But that's only because we can see it coming.
That's not to say we accept the millions upon millions of lives that HIV has taken from us. Never that. But what we call our "war on HIV," as though the untold number of virions out there were even aware a strategic assault was taking place against their existence, has gone on so long now, with so many twists and turns, that it has become an endless, mind-numbing procession of loss.
It is a fact to be endured, because we have no choice: As we trudge down this road, forever seeking its end, we will continue to walk past the bodies of the ever-growing number of people we couldn't save from the virus. We fight premature death, but we also expect it.
Yet we don't expect it to come like this.
Although most of the names of the flight's passengers have yet to be officially released, one of the first casualties to be confirmed was Joep Lange, M.D., Ph.D., a former president of the International AIDS Society, who had been at the forefront of HIV research since the earliest years of the known epidemic. He, and the others on the flight headed to AIDS 2014, refused to accept the inexorable toll that HIV continues to take on humanity, and chose to fly halfway around the world to find and share new ways to stop it from doing so.
It's in recognition of this nobility that the International AIDS Society announced that "the conference will go ahead as planned" while also including "opportunities to reflect and remember those we have lost."
Groundbreaking new research will still be presented -- though there will be a few more empty spots at plenary tables or standing in front of study posters. Wisdom and experience will still be shared -- though there will be less of it to go around, and fewer ears to hear it. Protests and marches will still take place, though there will be fewer hands to hold up placards and fewer feet walking down Melbourne's streets in support of the cause.
But we will do what we always do when we lose people in the fight against HIV: We'll hurt, and we'll mourn, and we'll remember. And we'll keep going, because even if HIV isn't aware of the fact, we've got a war to win against it.
[UPDATE 7/19: The introduction of this piece has been adjusted after early media reports, which suggested that more than 100 of those aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 had been AIDS 2014 conference delegates, were deemed to have been incorrect.]
Myles Helfand is the editorial director of TheBody.com and TheBodyPRO.com.
Follow Myles on Twitter: @MylesatTheBody.
Copyright © 2014 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, (born Jan. 27, 1775, Leonberg, near Stuttgart, Württemberg [Germany]—died Aug. 20, 1854, Bad Ragaz, Switz.), German philosopher and educator, a major figure of German idealism, in the post-Kantian development in German philosophy. He was ennobled (with the addition of von) in 1806.
Early life and career.
Schelling's father was a Lutheran minister, who in 1777 became a professor of Oriental languages at the theological seminary in Bebenhausen, near Tübingen. It was there that Schelling received his elementary education. He was a highly gifted child, and he had already learned the classical languages at the age of eight. On the basis of his rapid intellectual development, he was admitted, at the age of 15, to the theological seminary in Tübingen, a famous finishing school for ministers of the Württemberg area, where he lived from 1790 to 1795. The youths at Tübingen were inspired by the ideas of the French Revolution and, spurning tradition, turned away from doctrinal theology to philosophy. The young Schelling was inspired, however, by the thought of Immanuel Kant, who had raised philosophy to a higher critical level, and by the idealist system of Johann Fichte, as well as by the pantheism of Benedict de Spinoza, a 17th-century rationalist. When he was 19 years old Schelling wrote his first philosophical work, Über die Möglichkeit einer Form der Philosophie überhaupt (1795; "On the Possibility and Form of Philosophy in General"), which he sent to Fichte, who expressed strong approval. It was followed by Vom Ich als Prinzip der Philosophie ("Of the Ego as Principle of Philosophy"). One basic theme governs both of these works—the Absolute. This Absolute cannot be defined, however, as God; each person is himself the Absolute as the Absolute ego. This ego, eternal and timeless, is apprehended in a direct intuition, which, in contrast to sensory intuition, can be characterized as intellectual.
From 1795 to 1797 Schelling acted as a private tutor for a noble family, who had placed its sons under his care during their studies in Leipzig. The time spent in Leipzig marked a decisive turning point in the thought of Schelling. He attended lectures in physics, chemistry, and medicine. He acknowledged that Fichte, whom he had previously revered as his philosophical model, had not taken adequate notice of nature in his philosophical system, inasmuch as Fichte had always viewed nature only as an object in its subordination to man. Schelling, in contrast, wanted to show that nature, seen in itself, shows an active development toward the spirit. This philosophy of nature, the first independent philosophical accomplishment of Schelling, made him known in the circles of the Romanticists.
Period of intense productivity.
In 1798 Schelling was called to a professorship at the University of Jena, the academic centre of Germany at the time, where many of the foremost intellects of the time were gathered. During this period Schelling was extremely productive, publishing a rapid succession of works on the philosophy of nature. It was Schelling's desire, as attested by his famous work System des transzendentalen Idealismus (1800; "System of Transcendental Idealism"), to unite his concept of nature with Fichte's philosophy, which took the ego as the point of departure. Schelling saw that art mediates between the natural and physical spheres insofar as, in artistic creation, the natural (or unconscious) and the spiritual (or conscious) productions are united. Naturalness and spirituality are explained as emerging from an original state of indifference, in which they were submerged in the yet-undeveloped Absolute, and as rising through a succession of steps of ever-higher order. Fichte did not acknowledge this concept, however, and the two writers attacked each other most sharply in an intensive correspondence.
The time spent in Jena was important for Schelling also in a personal respect: there he became acquainted with Caroline Schlegel, among the most gifted women in German Romanticism, and married her in 1803. The unpleasant intrigues that accompanied this marriage and the dispute with Fichte caused Schelling to leave Jena, and he accepted an appointment at the University of Würzburg.
At first, Schelling lectured there on the philosophy of identity, conceived in his last years in Jena, in which he tried to show that, in all beings, the Absolute expresses itself directly as the unity of the subjective and the objective. It was just on this point that G.W.F. Hegel initiated his criticism of Schelling. Hegel had at first taken Schelling's side in the disagreement between Schelling and Fichte, and complete unanimity seemed to exist between them in 1802 when they coedited the Kritisches Journal der Philosophie ("Critical Journal of Philosophy"). In the following years, however, Hegel's philosophical thought began to move significantly away from Schelling's, and his Phänomenologie des Geistes (1807; The Phenomenology of Mind) contained strong charges against Schelling's system. To Schelling's definition of the Absolute as an indiscriminate unity of the subjective and the objective, Hegel replied that such an Absolute is comparable to the night, "in which all cows are black." Besides, Schelling had never explicitly shown how one could ascend to the Absolute; he had begun with this Absolute as though it were "shot out of a pistol."
This criticism struck Schelling a heavy blow. The friendship with Hegel that had existed since their time together at the seminary in Tübingen broke up. Schelling, who had been regarded as the leading philosopher of the time until the publication of Hegel's Phänomenologie, was pushed into the background.
This situation caused Schelling to retreat from public life. From 1806 to 1841 he lived in Munich, where, in 1806, he was appointed as general secretary of the Academy of Plastic Arts. He lectured from 1820 to 1827 in Erlangen. Caroline's death on Sept. 7, 1809, led him to write a philosophical work on immortality. In 1812 Schelling married Pauline Gotter, a friend of Caroline. The marriage was harmonious, but the great passion that Schelling had felt for Caroline was unrepeatable.
During the years in Munich, Schelling tried to consolidate his philosophical work in a new way, producing a revision that was instigated by Hegel's criticism. Schelling questioned all idealistic speculations built on the assumption that the world presents itself as a rational cosmos. Were there not also irrational things, he asked, and was not evil the predominant power in the world? In his Philosophische Untersuchungen über das Wesener menschlichen Freiheit (1809; Of Human Freedom), Schelling declared that the freedom of man is a real freedom only if it is freedom for good and evil. The possibility of this freedom is founded on two principles that are active in every living thing: one, a dark primal foundation that manifests itself in carnal desire and impulse; the other, a clearheaded sensibleness that governs as a formative power. Man, however, has placed the dark stratum of impulse, which was meant only to serve the intellect as a source of power, above the intellect and has thus subordinated the intellect to the impulses, which now rule over him. This reversal of the right order is the occurrence known in the Bible as the Fall from grace, through which evil came into the world. But this perversion of man is revoked by God, who becomes man in Christ and thus reestablishes the original order.
Period of the later, unpublished philosophy.
The position developed in the work on freedom forms the basis of Schelling's later philosophy, covering the time from 1810 until his death, which is known only through a draft of the unpublished work Die Weltalter (written in 1811; The Ages of the World) and through the manuscripts of his later lectures. In Die Weltalter Schelling wanted to relate the history of God. God, who originally is absorbed in a quiet longing, comes to himself by glimpsing in himself ideas through which he becomes conscious of himself. This self-consciousness, which is identical to freedom, enables God to project these ideas from himself—i.e., to create the world.
Schelling's appointment to the University of Berlin in 1841 gave him an opportunity once again to develop public interest in his conceptions. The Prussian king of that time, Frederick William IV, hoped that Schelling would combat the so-called dragon's seed of Hegelianism in Berlin, where Hegel had been working until his death in 1831. Schelling's first lecture in Berlin manifested his self-consciousness. Schelling declared that in his youth he had opened a new page in the history of philosophy and that now in his maturity he wanted to turn this page and start yet a newer one. Such notables as Friedrich Engels, Søren Kierkegaard, Jakob Burckhardt, and Mikhail Bakunin were in his audience. Schelling, however, had no great success in Berlin. Moreover, he was embittered when his lectures were plagiarized by an opponent who wanted to submit the positive philosophy of Schelling, now finally disclosed in these lectures, to the public for examination. Schelling initiated a legal suit but lost the case. He resigned and discontinued lecturing.
The content of these final lectures, however, represented the climax of Schelling's creative activity. Schelling divided philosophy into a negative philosophy, which developed the idea of God by means of reason alone, and, in contrast, a positive philosophy, which showed the reality of this idea by reasoning a posteriori from the fact of the world to God as its creator. Schelling then explained (referring to his work on freedom) that man, who wanted to be equal to God, stood up against God in his Fall into sin. God, however, was soon elevated again as the principle. During the era of mythology, God appeared as a dark power. During the era of revelation, however, God emerged in history as manifestly real in the figure of Christ. Thus, the complete history of religion should be conveyed through philosophical thought.
Personality and significance.
Schelling is described as a man of thickset build, and, according to favourable reports, his high forehead and sparkling eyes were impressive. Opponents of his philosophy, however, such as Karl Rosenkranz, a disciple of Hegel, spoke of a sharp and piercing look. His character was unbalanced. Schelling has been described as nervous, unpredictable, and deeply sensitive in his proud fashion. Particularly striking was his unwavering consciousness that it was his mission to bring philosophy to a definite completion.
Great philosophical influence was denied to Schelling. The philosophical situation at the time was determined not by the few disciples of Schelling but by the Hegelians. The right-wing Hegelians occupied all of the philosophical professorial chairs and handed down the tradition of Hegel's system. The left-wing Hegelians explained that, even to suspend Hegel's system, an analysis of Hegel's philosophy was necessary. Thus, in tracing the development of German Idealism, the early and middle Schelling—that is, the Schelling who drew up the philosophy of nature and the philosophy of identity—has been placed between the Idealism of Fichte, who started from the ego, and Hegel's system of the Absolute spirit.
The independence of Schelling and his importance for philosophy are only now being recognized, and that in connection with Existential philosophy and philosophical anthropology, which conceive themselves as counteracting the philosophy of absolute reason. The later Schelling now turns out to have been the first thinker to illuminate Hegel's philosophy critically. In particular, Schelling's insight that man is determined not only by reason but also by dark natural impulses is now valued as a positive attempt to understand the reality of man on a level more profound than that attained by Hegel.Walter SchulzThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
Western philosophy: The idealism of Fichte, Schelling, and HegelThe Enlightenment, inspired by the example of natural science, had accepted certain boundaries to human knowledge; that is, it had recognized certain limits to reason's ability to penetrate ultimate reality because that would require methods that surpass the capabilities of scientific method.…
continental philosophy: Schelling" Following Hegel's death in 1831, disenchantment with his philosophy, as well as with the speculative orientation of German philosophy as a whole, was rapid and widespread. F.W.J. Schelling (1775–1854), Hegel's successor at the University of Berlin, emphatically rejected the idea that reason was capable…
history of Europe: Kant's disciples…with contemporary science and art, Schelling made nature the source of all energy, from which individual consciousness takes off to become the observer of the universe. Nature is a work of art and man is, so to say, its critic, and because human consciousness results from an act of self-limitation,…
Judaism: Solomon Formstecher…may have been influenced by F.W.J. von Schelling (1775–1854) in his conception of nature and spirit as manifestations of the divine. In Formstecher's view, there are two types of religions that correspond to these manifestations: the religion of nature, in which God is conceived as the principle of nature or…
myth: Approaches to the study of myth and mythology…greatly stimulated in Germany by Friedrich von Schelling's philosophy of mythology, which argued that myth was a form of expression, characteristic of a particular stage in human development, through which men imagine the Absolute (for Schelling an all-embracing unity in which all differences are reconciled). Scholarly interest in myth has…
More About Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling20 references found in Britannica articles
Assorted References
- association with Hegel
- influence of Neoplatonism
- role in European culture
contribution to philosophy
- Absolute
- anti-Hegelianism
- continental philosophy
- existentialism


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migya wrote:Beast Mode wrote:"democracy is the worst form of government, besides all others that have been tried" - winston churchill
As for this quote, I disagree, socialism and fascism are worse, because less than 1% of the population control over 99% of the population. Democracy is the biggest deceiver, as 51% of the people can control 49% of the people, even on personal issues like taking recreational drugs. It is still better than the other two forms of government.
I think Churchill is actually agreeing with you here Migya. I think he's saying that democracy is a bad form of government, but other regimes (like socialism and facism) are in fact worse than democracy (hence the bit 'besides all others that have been tried'). I interpret that to mean that democracy is the pick of a very crappy bunch of government regime options. Which in a way is true. It's impossible to find a form of government that is totally equal or fair, as you pointed out quite well. They all have their pros and cons. But democracy does seem to have the highest approval rating, so to speak.


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The good: Less expensive than last year's Envy models; highly configurable; solid design and construction.
The bad: Heavy; ATI switchable graphics not as seamless as Nvidia's; funky volume controls don't play well with games.
The bottom line: HP's updated Envy 14 is a well-built high-end laptop with impressive components and a surprisingly reasonable price.
HP's high-end Envy line of laptops is one of the few bright spots for laptop design in an industry currently filled with midprice plastic boxes. With a solidly built (but slightly too heavy) aluminum and magnesium chassis and a capable collection of components, we liked the original 13- and 15-inch versions of the Envy, but they were priced out of reach for most.
The new 14-inch Envy 14 (we always love logical product names) adds discrete graphics to last year's 13-inch Envy 13, while dropping the starting price by about one third to $999. That gets you an … Expand full review
HP's high-end Envy line of laptops is one of the few bright spots for laptop design in an industry currently filled with midprice plastic boxes. With a solidly built (but slightly too heavy) aluminum and magnesium chassis and a capable collection of components, we liked the original 13- and 15-inch versions of the Envy, but they were priced out of reach for most.
The new 14-inch Envy 14 (we always love logical product names) adds discrete graphics to last year's 13-inch Envy 13, while dropping the starting price by about one third to $999. That gets you an Intel Core i3 CPU, but upgrading to a more powerful Core i5, as in our review unit, only bumps the price up to $1,049 (Core i7 and quad-core options are also available, at prices up to $1,600).
The Envy 14 looks great and generally runs great, but there are also a handful of minor frustrating issues that seem out of place on a high-end laptop. Using the volume control buttons automatically brings up an on-screen volume bar that bumps you out of full-screen games; the multitouch touch pad still has trouble with its two-finger scroll functions; and this laptop had occasional trouble waking up out of a sleep state–more so than we've seen in a Windows 7 laptop in some time.
Like last year's Envy 13, the new HP Envy 14 is made of aluminum and magnesium, and comes in basic gunmetal gray. The same subtle pattern of imprinted squares covers the wrist rest and back of the lid, making the two systems hard to tell apart, aside from the slight size increase to accommodate the 14-inch display.
The Envy 14, like its Envy predecessors, feels solid and rugged, but is also dense and heavy compared with other laptops of a similar size. At 5.3 pounds, it's not exactly something you'd want to carry in a shoulder bag during a daily commute (and a 14-inch laptop is already just over the line of what we'd consider truly portable), but we could see it working for semiregular trips to the office or coffee shop.
The interior consists of a slightly sunken keyboard tray, with a keyboard made up of widely spaced, flat-topped keys and a single power button. Though there are no quick-launch or media control keys, the row of Function keys has their media control and other attributes as the primary mapping, with the actual tasks of F4, F5, etc. requiring you to hold down the Fn key at the same time (a setup HP and others are using more frequently). One big advantage the Envy 14 has over the older Envy 13 is that the new keyboard is backlit, which is one of our must-have features in any high-end laptop.
As previously mentioned, the volume controls have the unfortunate side effect of jumping to the onscreen volume indicator when you hit the volume down, up, or mute buttons (F7, F8, and F9, respectively). So if you try to use them while playing a game or watching certain kinds of full-screen video, you'll be kicked out of the full-screen mode or even back to the desktop–which is an incredibly frustrating experience.
The Envy's oversize touch pad is now common on many HP laptops. The look and feel are great, and it rivals Apple for sheer size. But having the left and right mouse buttons built right in at the lower corners of the touch pad (clicking down when pressed) cuts down on the actual usable space.
Unfortunately, every HP laptop with this new touch pad we've tried has the same problem: the multitouch gesture controls don't work consistently, especially the all-important two-finger scrolling move. Scrolling down long documents or Web pages with your index and middle fingers almost never works, as one rarely holds those two fingers evenly enough on the horizontal plane to activate the scroll function. We had better luck with our middle and ring fingers. The touch pad also lacks the inertial scrolling that helps MacBooks (and iPhones, iPads, etc.) feel so natural.
The 14.5-inch wide-screen LED display (notable, as most 14-inch laptop screens measure only 14.0-inches diagonally) offers a 1,600×900-pixel native resolution, which is better than the almost universal 1,366×768 pixels found on most laptops with screens from 11 to 15 inches. The screen had impressive brightness and excellent off-axis viewing angles, and audio was also a high point. HP has teamed with Beats Audio to include special bass-boosting software and hardware that purportedly works especially well with Beats-branded headphones, but certainly also sounds clear and hefty with other headphones or through the system speakers.
The HP Envy 14 has a much better selection of ports and connections than the Envy 13. This time around, you get three USB ports, including one USB/eSATA port, both HDMI and DisplayPort, plus a slot-loading optical drive–a feature conspicuously missing from the 13-inch version.
The $999 base model has an Intel Core i3 CPU, and a variety of Core i5 and Core i7 upgrades are available, adding anywhere from $50 to more than $500 to the price. We tested a version with the most basic upgrade, to a Core i5-450m, which seems like a very worthwhile investment. As one would rightly expect from the current Core i5 laptop, the HP Envy 14 performed well in our benchmark tests, but slightly slower than systems with the more common and slightly faster version of the Core i5, the i5-520M (which is available as a $150 option). Still, for all but the most heavy multitasking or gaming, the Envy 14 is more than capable.
The included ATI Radeon HD5650 is a midrange graphics card suitable for mainstream gaming. Playing Unreal Tournament III at 1,600×900-pixel resolution, we got 57.8 frames per second. In Street Fighter IV, at the same resolution, the system ran at 29.6 frames per second.
The Envy also features switchable graphics, which means the ATI card can be turned off to save battery power when not needed, instead running the default Intel HD graphics. It's a nice option to have, but unlike Nvidia's Optimus solution for laptops running Nvidia GPUs, you have to manually switch the graphics here by clicking an onscreen button, which frankly feels archaic at this point (although you can configure the system to automatically jump to the integrated graphics when using the battery).
The HP Envy 14 ran for 3 hours and 20 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, using the included 8-cell battery. That's good for a midsize laptop, and note that we kept the switchable discrete graphics card engaged, as many casual users would. Remembering to switch them off would lead to improved battery life.
HP includes an industry-standard, one-year, parts-and-labor warranty with the system. Upgrading to a three-year plan starts at $399, but includes accidental damage protection and on-site service. Support is accessible through a 24-7 toll-free phone line, and a well-maintained online knowledge base and driver downloads.


text: On Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 5:02 PM, John Hearns <hearnsj at googlemail.com> wrote: > That's a good question. > > PBS are promoting PBS Analytics http://www.pbsgridworks.com/Product.aspx?id=7 > and SGE has Arco http://wikis.sun.com/display/GridEngine/Installing+ARCo > If I have it right, both of these work by accumulating information > about completed jobs. > I may be wrong, and would like to see Analytics working (hint - I have tried). Thanks John! THose sound interesting. > Your question about displaying blocks of empty nodes is interesting. > I guess in PBS you would run 'pbsnodes' and look for the free ones! pbsnodes does have more than sufficient info. It's only the scripting around it that needs to be in place. -- Rahul


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Take a look at what we have currently on our lot. You can use one of our smartbrowser tools below to help make your decision easier. If you have any trouble finding the vehicle you are looking for, please try our Nissan Finder service and we'll find it for you!
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Dizzee Rascal Gives You The Meaning Of The Slang Word Blix
AOL Reports: "Dizzee Rascal returns to school all you lovers of everything international. The London-bred offers up another lesson in British hip hop slang. Take notes"
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Entertainment » Television
Watch: Fans Upset with 'Big Brother' Player After He's Seen Using Ice Cream Scooper on Fellow Contestants
A contestant on "Big Brother 20" is coming under fire this week, with some fans of the CBS reality show accusing him of assault, after the 24/7 live feeds appear to show him attempting to place an ice cream scooper on fellow houseguests' private parts, a number of outlets like Us Weekly, TMZ and the Daily Mail report.
In the video, JC Mounduix, 28, is seen entering a room in the "Big Brother" house as three female contestants are seen laying in bed. Mounduix, who identifies as gay, then tries to place an ice cream scooper he's holding under the blanket where the women begin to giggle. He then tries to put the ice cream scooper under contestant Kaitlyn Herman's blanket but she pushes him away.
He can also be heard telling houseguest Kaycee Clark to "open up your vagina" and that "it feels good." He also says he already tried it on himself.
"I have a vagina," he said, joking.
Mounduix also attempted to use the ice cream scooper on Tyler Crispen, another "Big Brother" houseguest, who covered himself and said "No."
In another incident, the Daily Mail reports Mounduix, who hails from Miami but is a dancer from West Hollywood, was also seen on the live feeds cupping Crispen's crotch while he was getting a message from a female houseguest.
"My kind of party. I want to help," Mounduix is heard saying.
The group laughed and the female houseguest apologized and said Mounduix is "harmless."
TMZ notes none of the houseguests have complained about Mounduix's behavior. Nevertheless, "Big Brother" fans were quick to react to the incidents via Twitter, with some users accusing him of sexual assault.
Watch the clip of the ice cream scooper incident below.


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Famous (Feat. Mayhem Morearty & Blake Carrington) - A Kid Tryna Make It
Here's the 4th video "A Kid Tryna Make It" featuring Mayhem Morearty and Blake Carrington, off the 5-track Juno nominated the I Rap Now EP out now.
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We are very pleased to announce that as a result of a recent merger of Microzone Corporation and Design Filtration Inc., our two companies have become one entity under the name of Design Filtration Microzone Inc.
This is a very exciting venture for both companies, for our employees, customers, distributors and our supplier partners. Our mission at Design Filtration Microzone Inc. is to provide an excellent customer service experience with the unsurpassed knowledge base and the high level of expertise that our customers and distributors have come to expect. This joining of forces has resulted in a more comprehensive product offering including several new equipment lines to be announced in the coming months.
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Thursday April 25, 2019
Article of the Month
Overview of Life Income Gifts Part I
Many clients seek guidance from professional advisors regarding retirement, investments, tax planning and charitable giving. These clients are often concerned with maintaining their standard of living and looking for a way to support their favorite charitable organizations. Life income gifts are a great solution for clients who desire a steady source of income for the duration of their lives, while also providing a legacy for charity.
Due to substantial tax changes, now is a great time to suggest charitable solutions for clients. Part one of this article will discuss charitable gift annuities and part two will focus on charitable remainder trusts. This two-part article series will provide illustrations for the gift models and practical pointers to help guide a client toward the gift model that will best fulfill his or her philanthropic goals.
Charitable Gift Annuities
A charitable gift annuity (CGA) is a contract between a donor and a charitable organization. The donor contributes a gift of cash or appreciated property in exchange for the charity's promise to pay a fixed annual amount for the life or lives of the specified annuitants. The CGA is secured by all of the assets of the charity. CGA contracts are irrevocable and non-assignable, except to the issuing charity.
CGAs appeal to a broad range of clients, ranging from individuals with high net worth to those with modest means. A CGA donor will receive several tax benefits, including a charitable income tax deduction and partially tax-free payments. If appreciated assets are used to fund the CGA, there will be a partial bypass of gain. The annuitant may not be subject to capital gain taxes at the time of the gift. The capital gain on the gift portion of the CGA will be bypassed. The capital gain on the annuity portion will be recognized over the life expectancy of the annuitant.
When an individual funds a CGA, part of the contributed property is considered a charitable gift and part is return of principal to the annuitant in the form of payments. In order for the CGA to qualify for a charitable deduction, there must be a minimum 10% charitable deduction at the creation of the gift annuity. The charity cannot guarantee a minimum or maximum number of payments. The payments are secured for the life of the annuitant.
CGAs provide fixed payments for the life or lives of one or two annuitants. The payout percentage will be based on the annuitants' age and is fixed for the duration of the contract without adjustments for cost of living or inflation.
Most charities choose to follow the American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) suggested gift annuity payout rates. The recommended rates are based on a 50-50 blend of gender with a mortality assumption under the 2012 Individual Annuity Reserving Table. The ACGA assumes a mixed portfolio for the annuity investments of 40% equities, 55% fixed and 5% cash investments. The ACGA rates assume a gross investment return of 4.25% per year on the gift annuity fund with expenses of 1% per year. Based on those assumptions, the ACGA rates are calculated to leave roughly 50% of the original funding value to the charity.
An immediate CGA will be structured to start paying out during the first year of the gift. Immediate annuities will start making payments within one payment period of the funding of the annuity. The annuity payout rate is based on the age of the annuitant at the time of the gift. If a client is interested in setting up a CGA with a specific charity, the advisor should find out if that charity has any age limitations for its CGAs.
Example 1: Immediate CGADeferred Charitable Gift Annuity
Doug and Jane meet with Angela, a gift planner from State School. Doug and Jane are seeking to supplement their retirement income. Angela encourages them to consider funding a CGA with State School as part of their retirement plan. They wish to make a gift of highly appreciated publicly traded stock in the amount of $250,000, which has a cost basis of $15,000. Doug is 77 and Jane is 75. Based on the ACGA suggested rates, they would be entitled to a 5.1% annuity payout. Their gift would allow them to claim a charitable income tax deduction of $106,290. Doug and Jane love the idea of supplementing their income in their retirement years. They like the charitable income tax deduction and the legacy gift to charity. They are also pleased with the annual fixed annuity payments of $12,750.
A CGA may be structured as a deferred annuity, which starts making payments more than one year from the date of the gift. The annuity starting date, for purposes of determining the payout percentage, is one payment period prior to the first payment. Individuals who choose a deferred payout CGA often have a higher payout rate than if they had chosen an immediate CGA. The ACGA suggested rates for deferred annuities take into account an assumed growth rate for each year the CGA is deferred. This assumed growth rate for the deferral period increases the fixed annuity payout rate. The annuity payout is based on the annuitants' age at the time of the starting date.
The deferred CGA option can be particularly helpful for clients planning for retirement. Individuals may want to defer payouts for five, 10 or even 20 years. Charities may have an age threshold for accepting CGAs and deferred payment CGAs. Clients who have not yet reached the charity's minimum age for setting up an immediate annuity may be able to set up a deferred annuity to begin payouts once the client reaches a certain age.
Example 2: Deferred CGAFlexible Deferred Charitable Gift Annuity
Brandon and Amy meet with their favorite foundation to find out how they could support its mission. They hope to supplement their income later in life. Brandon and Amy also desire a charitable tax deduction while they are still in their income earning years. They wish to use cash to fund the annuity and are willing to gift $300,000. Karen, the gift officer, suggests that Brandon and Amy consider a deferred payment CGA, as they are 55 and 50, respectively. Karen explains that if they are willing to defer payouts from the CGA for 15 years, they can set up an annuity with a 6.9 % payout rate. This will provide payments of $20,700 annually. They will also be entitled to claim a charitable income tax deduction this year of $99,593. This gift annuity proposal meets Brandon and Amy's goals. They are more than willing to wait until retirement to begin receiving payments from the annuity. Brandon and Amy are overjoyed with the large charitable income tax deduction in the year of the gift.
A client might also consider setting up a flexible deferred annuity. In Private Letter Ruling (PLR) 9743054, the Service approved the use of a flexible deferred annuity. While a PLR is not precedent, it can be helpful to determine the Service's position on an issue. With a flexible deferred annuity, a donor selects an expected start date, or target date, for the annuity payments. The donor will also select a range of dates specifying the earliest and latest date the annuitant can elect to being receiving payments. The target date is used to determine the charitable tax deduction. However, the donor may elect to start receiving payouts at any time between the earliest and latest payout dates selected.
If a flexible deferred annuity is chosen, the payouts will be based on the start date. If the donor elects to begin receiving payments before the target date, the annuity payout percentage will be lower. If the donor elects to begin receiving payouts after the target date, the payout rate will be higher. The CGA contract will require donors to elect to begin payouts in writing one payment period prior to the desired annuity start date. This can be a great option for clients who do not know when they would like their payments to commence and would enjoy the ability to choose to start payments rather than have a certain date.
Taxation of Charitable Gift Annuities
CGA payments may be especially attractive due to the taxation of the income payments. A portion of each CGA payment will be tax free because it is a return of the donor's principal. The tax-free portion of the income payment will continue until the annuitant reaches life expectancy as calculated as of the gift date. Once the annuitant reaches life expectancy under the Service's Section 72 life expectancy table, all future payouts will be ordinary income.
If a CGA is funded with a capital asset and the donor is also the annuitant, a portion of the capital gains may be prorated over the donor's life expectancy. Gifts of stock, real estate and other appreciated assets will provide a partial bypass of capital gains and charitable income tax deduction for the donor. The income payments are tax favored as they will be partially tax free and capital gain income rather than all ordinary income.
If the donor is not the annuitant, the portion of the capital gain attributed to the annuity will be recognized by the donor in the year of the gift. Advisors should be cautious in recommending the use of capital assets to fund gift annuities if the client is considering funding an annuity that will make payments to another person.
Charitable Gift Annuity Contracts
Most charities have a set of standard CGA contracts drafted by legal counsel. This standard contract is easily modified for each annuity issued by the organization. Several states require issuers of CGA contracts to have their form contracts pre-approved with the state. If a standard annuity contract is used, CGAs can be cost effective for the client as well as the charity, because no additional drafting is required.
State Requirements for Charitable Gift Annuities
A charitable organization's ability to issue a charitable gift annuity will depend on state law. Different states have different approaches when it comes to CGA regulation. There are generally four state approaches to CGA regulation, which are: registration states, notification states, conditional exemption states and silent states.
Registration states require the charity to obtain a permit or license before the charity is able to issue CGAs in that state. Registration can be an expensive and time-consuming project for charities. These states also require annual reporting.
Notification states, on the other hand, do not require a full registration. Rather, states using a notification approach generally require charities to meet certain specifications and provide notice to the state prior to issuing gift annuities in the state. The charity must simply send a letter or state-issued form to the state. In the letter, the organization notifies the state that it meets the state's requirements for issuers of CGA contracts and that it will be issuing gift annuities in that state.
Conditional exemption states require that charities meet certain specifications, but no registration or notification is required prior to issuing CGAs. Finally, some states are silent with regard to gift annuity regulation. These states do not have any case law or statutes related to gift annuities. Depending on state regulations, charities issuing CGAs may be required to hold a portion of the value of the annuity in a reserve account to secure future annuity payments.
Life income gifts help clients meet their philanthropic goals and financial security needs. Charitable gift annuities are a great option to provide support for a charity, while also receiving fixed payments for the life or lives of the annuitants.
CGAs are a great supplement for clients in, or nearing, retirement. Advisors often find that their clients enjoy the benefits of the charitable deduction and fixed, partially tax-free payments so much that they end up creating multiple CGAs over their lifetimes. Not only are CGAs easy for a client to understand, they are easy and inexpensive to set-up when compared to other planned gift models a client may consider. CGAs can create substantial legacy gifts for charity and thus, can fulfill a donor's charitable goals as well. By understanding how various gift models operate, advisors can help guide clients to the life income gift that best suits their clients' needs. Charitable gifts are a wonderful solution to provide financial security, income tax savings and meet the client's philanthropic goals.
Published April 1, 2018


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When it comes to scamming Uncle Sam, fraudsters hatch some very complex plans to milk entitlement programs. But when it comes to defrauding the federal food stamps program—it can be as easy as pushing a button.
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Recently, a husband-and-wife duo from Waco, Texas plead guilty to charges of food stamp abuse that allegedly scammed the government of $350,000
Magdalena and Jamal Akhter, who run a convenience store, allowed customers using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) debit cards to choose the "cash-back" option when buying items—something that's not allowed under the program's rules. The two then pocketed half the cash and paid the SNAP beneficiary the rest.
A similar scheme was uncovered in Tampa that also involved a convenience store owner who reportedly pocketed $735,886 in SNAP benefits 2010 through 2012.
Just last month, a dollar store owner was arrested in New Jersey for money laundering, theft by deception, and food stamp fraud. Muhammed Farooq, owner of four dollar stores in both Essex and Union Counties, and allegedly allowed patrons to buy non-food stamp items like electronics, which aren't eligible for purchase with a SNAP debit cards, and took in $5.2 million over two-and-a-half years.
Experts say that independently-owned dollar stores and bodegas in low-income areas are where SNAP fraud runs rampant, not the mega-retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), that get a large payout from SNAP. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 82% of SNAP benefits are redeemed at supermarkets and superstores. The remaining 18% of SNAP beneficiary stores is where the majority of scams take place.
In 2012, the USDA reviewed more than 15,000 stores nationwide and permanently disqualified almost 1,400 for program violations. That is up 14% from the 1,215 disqualified permanently in 2011. And in the first five months of 2013, the agency imposed sanctions via fines or temporary disqualifications in 336 stores violating program rules.
What's more, 536 stores were permanently disqualified for trafficking SNAP benefits already this year, and 336 stores were found in violation of program rules and face sanctions through fines or temporary disqualifications
The FBI says these busts are out of its wheelhouse, with a spokesperson telling FOXBusiness.com, "this isn't a large violation that we do a lot of work on, it's usually tied to other charges in a case."
The Size of the Net
As the SNAP program continues to grow, experts say scams will become more prevalent as enforcement becomes more difficult. Rachel Sheffield, policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, says SNAP program spending has nearly doubled since 2008, and has grown steadily every year since its inception in the 1960s.
In fiscal year 2012, there were more than 46 million participants in the SNAP program, compared to over 28 million in 2008, spending went from around $37 billion in 2008 to over $78 billion in 2012, she says.
To put it in context, the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.
While the number of people on the program continues to expand, fraud accounts for around 1% of SNAP benefits, according to the USDA. The most recent data shows a drop in trafficking from 1998 through 2008 from 4% of benefits being fraudulent down to 1%.
However, Sheffield says the USDA is overlooking a more common type of fraud: people staying on the system longer than they are eligible.
"They get jobs and won't report them," she says. "We recommend requiring participants or state bureaucracies to cross-check the national directory of new hires for new employment. And then, able-bodied adults should be required to re-certify for assistance every three months."
Providers in on the Act
Mark Dunlea, president of the Hunger Action Network of New York, says provider fraud is more common than beneficiary fraud, though he argues that there is little corruption within the system.
"Think about what bodegas do to survive in New York City—it's overwhelmingly selling beer, tobacco and lottery tickets," Dunlea says. "Our government has turned this entire industry into bootleggers and numbers runners, and it's sad."
In low-income neighborhoods, food stamps are a substantial part of the food economy, he says. It's in the best interest of larger corporations like Wal-Mart to participate in the SNAP program ethically, so they can go out and get more SNAP money into their businesses.
"It's the small guys who are struggling to pay their rent [participating in fraud]," Dunlea says. "For big companies, why jeopardize [the business] just to get an extra $30 or $40 a customer?"
Studies show that those on food stamps spend their dollars only slightly more wisely than the average consumers, when it comes to savings, however Dunlea says beneficiaries are human too, and make bad choices.
"These are people barely keeping their heads above water," he says. "You would hope the federal government would figure out a way to monitor this. No fraud is good."


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A sorority leader at the University of Maryland sent a profanity-laden email to her fellow Delta Gammas last week that berated and threatened her sisters over Greek Week festivities, and the note--as absurd as it is--serves as yet another reminder of how quickly the internet can tarnish a reputation.
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While the sender probably never imagined the note would go viral, students should learn from her experience. Online reputations play an increasingly larger role in the hiring process and for students looking to get hired after graduation, they need to make sure their online profiles present their best image.
Dan Schawbel, author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules For Career Success, says situations like this can haunt perpetrators for years to come. "To repair your brand after that happens, you have to apologize in public and online. You should create a strong online presence to push that article back."
To overshadow any harmful attention online, he also advises students build a strong presence with more positive associations to flush out negative attention.
"Get positive media for doing something creative and make your own news on a blog or website with your own name on it," he says. "For her, [the damage] will be around for a long time with so many credible [outlets] covering it."
Nicole Williams, career expert for LinkedIn, says the letter writer will most likely face an uphill battle to gain employment. "Who would trust this woman or want her in your midst? I don't know who would hire her if she can go off the rails like this so publicly."
She warns all college to students to keep in mind that everything they do, say, or even write has the potential for going viral today. "Be ready for it to be unmasked at any time, and think 'what would this look like publicly?'"
The experts offered the following tips on how students can create and protect their online brand before hitting the job market:
No. 1: Front-run your brand. Get out there and create professional Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and even a blog if applicable, Williams suggests. "Be proactive instead of reacting to an online image. You want to demonstrate that you can use social media to build the business, and if you don't have that platform, you are in trouble."
No 2. Clean up what you do have. Take down any questionable or inappropriate photos as soon as possible. "Present your best, most professional self," Williams says. "How you conduct yourself on social media is how you will conduct yourself in the company."
Schawbel also recommends students moderate status updates to keep a professional image.
No. 3: Clean up your current friends list. Schawbel says on average, milennials have 700 friends online—and like it or not, these "friends" can reflect negatively on a user.
"This digital traffic can really hurt you," he says. "The online world is like your handshake, and people will search for you online first."
No. 4: Start networking now. Students should identify professionals in their interested career paths and start making connections. Williams also says they should
start making informed comments on sites and forums associated with their field to leave a positive digital footprint.
"Build relationships with people who have the ability to hire you," she says.


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This is a photo guide for Gare Saint Lazare train station in Paris. It is a connection point for both suburban and grande ligne trains.
Gare Saint-Lazare is one of six train stations in Paris. It is the terminus station for suburban and grand line trains including Transilien (2 lines- Lines J & L), intercités (3 lines- all lignes Normandes, and TER Haute Normandie (serving upper Normandy).
Gare Saint Lazare is centrally located close to the metro, RER E, and various bus stops. There is one bus stop on Rue de Rome and a bus station located close to the intersection of Place Gabriel Péri and Rue de Rome.
Outside to the train station you'll find a column shaped sculpture of clocks.
This train station has been undergoing renovation since mid-2008 and is scheduled to complete at the end of this year, 2011. The Saint-Lazare Metro station has a dome shaped covering about 10 metres (~ 30 feet) from the front steps of the train station. This station services Metro lines 3, 12, 13, and 14. While underground you'll find a path connecting the Metro station to Haussmann-Saint-Lazare station, which is a station for the RER E line.
There is a Vélib station located on the corner of Rue de Rome and Rue de Amsterdam, because of the volume of traffic that goes through this station it might be hard to get a bike at this location.
Inside the train station you'll find 27 lanes (voies). Generally lanes 1-18 are servicing the suburban and intercity trains while lanes 19-27 servicing the Grand Line trains. You'll see signs above the voies indicating what they are normally scheduled for.
This train station has an SNCF ticket outlet and also automated machines (for SNCF, TER, Ile-de-France tickets). There is an information desk open generally from 07:00 to 22:00 Monday to Fridays, 07:00-14:00 Saturdays, and 14:00-22:00 Sundays.
If you are using a billet origine-destination or a grande ligne ticket, you will have to validate it before getting on the train (Note: Some print at home tickets will not need to be validated and will be scanned once boarded). There are two different machines, one for billet origine-destination and one for grande ligne tickets.
This station has only one floor and does not have a luggage storage. It does however have a lost and found office located close to lane 27. The washrooms cost 0,50€ and are located in front of lane 23 & 24 and there are food kiosks within the station.
Hope you have a happy and safe train ride!
Paris Transport Security & Safety Tips
What Next?
- Search:
- Ask a question or browse the Paris by Train forums for an answer. (Or visit the forum archive).