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Terms of Use
IMPORTANT NOTICE: THESE TERMS OF USE ARE SUBJECT TO BINDING ARBITRATION AND A WAIVER OF CLASS ACTION RIGHTS AS DETAILED IN SECTIONS 11 and 12.
(A) Governing Terms. These Terms of Service, along with any additional terms and conditions that are referenced herein or that are presented elsewhere on the Site in relation to a specific service or feature (collectively, "Terms of Service") and the Hammarica.com LLC Privacy Policy, set forth the terms and conditions that apply to your use of the Hammarica.com LLC Site. By using the Site, you agree to comply with all of the terms and conditions hereof. If you do not agree to these Terms of Service, you should not access or use the Site.
(B) Changes to Terms of Service. Hammarica.com LLC may modify the Terms of Service, or any part thereof, or add or remove terms at any time, and such modifications, additions or deletions will be effective immediately upon posting. Your use of the Site after such posting shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by you of such modifications, additions or deletions.
(C) Changes to Site. Hammarica.com LLC may change or discontinue any aspect, service or feature of the Site at any time, including, but not limited to, content, hours of availability, and equipment needed for access or use.
(D) Registration. You may be given the opportunity to register (via an online registration form) to create a user account ("Your Account") that may allow you to receive information from Hammarica.com LLC and/or to participate in certain features on the Site such as certain Interactive Areas. Hammarica.com LLC will use the information you provide in accordance with the Hammarica.com LLC Privacy Policy. By registering you represent and warrant that all information that you provide on the registration form is current, complete and accurate to the best of your knowledge. You agree to maintain and promptly update your registration information on the Site so that it remains current, complete and accurate. During the registration process, you may be required to choose a password and/or user name. You acknowledge and agree that Hammarica.com LLC may rely on this password or user name to identify you. You shall be responsible for protecting the confidentiality of your user name(s) or password(s), if any. You are responsible for all use of Your Account, regardless of whether you authorized such access or use, and for ensuring that all use of Your Account complies fully with the provisions of these Terms of Service.
(E) Equipment. You are responsible for obtaining and maintaining all connectivity, computer software, hardware and other equipment needed for access to and use of the Site and all charges related to the same.
2. User Content and Conduct; Community Guidelines
The following terms apply to content submitted by users, and user conduct, on the Site's Interactive Areas.
(A) Interactive Areas. The Site may contain comments sections, discussion forums, or other interactive features in which you may post or upload user-generated content, including but not limited to comments, video, photos, messages, other materials or items (collectively, "User Content"). You are solely responsible for your use of any Interactive Areas and you use them at your own risk. Interactive Areas are available for individuals aged 13 years or older. By submitting User Content to an Interactive Area, you represent that you are 13 years of age or older and, if you are under the age of 18, you either are an emancipated minor, or have obtained the legal consent of your parent or legal guardian to enter into these Terms of Service, submit content, participate on the Site, and fulfill the obligations set forth in these Terms of Service, which forms a binding contract between you and Hammarica.com LLC.
(B) Community Guidelines. By submitting any User Content or participating in an Interactive Area within or in connection with the Site, you agree to abide by the following rules of conduct:
You agree not to upload, post or otherwise transmit any User Content that:
violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others, including any statements which may defame, harass, stalk or threaten others.
you know to be false, misleading or inaccurate.
contains blatant expressions of bigotry, racism, racially or ethnically offensive content, hate speech, abusiveness, vulgarity or profanity.
contains or advocates pornography or sexually explicit content, pedophilia, incest, bestiality, or that is otherwise obscene or lewd.
violates any law or advocates or provides instruction on dangerous, illegal, or predatory acts, or discusses illegal activities with the intent to commit them.
advocates violent behavior.
poses a reasonable threat to personal or public safety.
contains violent images of killing or physical abuse that appear to have been captured solely, or principally, for exploitive, prurient, or gratuitous purposes.
is protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner of such copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or other proprietary right. The burden of determining that any User Content is not protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or other proprietary right rests with you. You shall be solely liable for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, rights of publicity or other proprietary rights or any other harm resulting from such a submission. Any person determined by Hammarica.com LLC, in its sole discretion, to have violated the intellectual property or other rights of others shall be barred from submitting or posting any further material on the Site.
does not generally pertain to the designated topic or theme of any Interactive Area.
contains any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising or promotional materials with respect to products or services, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation.
You agree not to engage in activity that would constitute a criminal offense or give rise to a civil liability.
You agree that if necessary, you have the consent of each and every identifiable natural person in any submission to use such persons name or likeness in the manner contemplated by the Site.
You agree that any person who appears in your submission who is a current member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA) or any other rights society is not entitled to compensation by Hammarica.com LLC.
You agree not to impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, Hammarica.com LLC or any Hammarica.com LLC employee, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
You agree not to represent or suggest, directly or indirectly, Hammarica.com LLC's endorsement of User Content.
You agree not to interfere with any other user's right to privacy, including by harvesting or collecting personally-identifiable information about the Site users or posting private information about a third party.
You agree not to upload, post or otherwise transmit any User Content, software or other materials which contain a virus or other harmful or disruptive component.
You agree not to interfere with or disrupt the Site or the servers or networks connected to the Site, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Site.
You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purpose, any portion of the Site, use the Site, or access to the Site.
You agree not to use any service, technology or automated system to artificially inflate the page views that your User Content receives. This includes pay-per-click services, web "robots" and any other current or future technologies. You also agree not to direct any third party to use these services, technologies or automated systems on your behalf.
You agree not to use any technology, service or automated system to post more User Content than an individual could upload in a given period of time. You also agree not to direct any third party to use these services, technologies or automated systems on your behalf.
Any conduct that in Hammarica.com LLC's sole discretion restricts or inhibits anyone else from using or enjoying the Site will not be permitted. Hammarica.com LLC reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove or edit User Content by you and to terminate Your Account for any reason.
Hammarica.com LLC does not vouch for the accuracy or credibility of any User Content, and does not take any responsibility or assume any liability for any actions you may take as a result of reading User Content posted on the Site. Through your use of Interactive Areas, you may be exposed to content that you may find offensive, objectionable, harmful, inaccurate or deceptive. There may also be risks of dealing with underage persons, people acting under false pretense, international trade issues and foreign nationals. By using Interactive Areas, you assume all associated risks.
(C) Monitoring. Hammarica.com LLC shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor User Content posted or uploaded to the Site to determine compliance with these Terms of Service and any operating rules established by Hammarica.com LLC and to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request. Although Hammarica.com LLC has no obligation to monitor, screen, edit or remove any of the User Content posted or uploaded to the Site, Hammarica.com LLC reserves the right, and has absolute discretion, to screen, edit, refuse to post or remove without notice any User Content posted or uploaded to the Site at any time and for any reason, and you are solely responsible for creating backup copies of and replacing any User Content posted to the Site at your sole cost and expense.
The decision by Hammarica.com LLC to monitor and/or modify User Content does not constitute nor shall it be deemed to constitute any responsibility or liability in any manner on the part of Hammarica.com LLC in connection with or arising from use by you of Interactive Areas on the Site.
(D) License to User Content. By submitting User Content to the Site, you automatically grant Hammarica.com LLC and its parent company, Hammarica.com LLC LLC the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license, but not the obligation, to use, publish, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, translate, create derivative works from, incorporate into other works, distribute, sub-license and otherwise exploit such User Content (in whole or in part) worldwide in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such User Content, without payment to you or to any third parties unless otherwise agreed to in Hammarica.com LLC's sole discretion. You represent and warrant to Hammarica.com LLC that you have the full legal right, power and authority to grant to Hammarica.com LLC the license provided for herein, that you own or control the complete exhibition and other rights to the User Content you submitted for the purposes contemplated in this license and that neither the User Content nor the exercise of the rights granted herein shall violate these Terms of Service, or infringe upon any rights, including the right of privacy or right of publicity, constitute a libel or slander against, or violate any common law or any other right of, or cause injury to, any person or entity. You further grant Hammarica.com LLC the right, but not the obligation, to pursue at law any person or entity that violates your or Hammarica.com LLC's rights in the User Content by a breach of these Terms of Service.
(E) Moral Rights. If it is determined that you retain moral rights (including rights of attribution or integrity) in the User Content, you hereby declare that (a) you do not require that any personally identifying information be used in connection with the User Content, or any derivative works of or upgrades or updates thereto; (b) you have no objection to the publication, use, modification, deletion and exploitation of the User Content by Hammarica.com LLC or its licensees, successors and assigns; (c) you forever waive and agree not to claim or assert any entitlement to any and all moral rights of an author in any of the User Content; and (d) you forever release Hammarica.com LLC, and its licensees, successors and assigns, from any claims that you could otherwise assert against Hammarica.com LLC by virtue of any such moral rights. You also permit any other user to access, view, store or reproduce the User Content for that user's personal use.
(F) No Obligation. User Content submitted by you will be considered non-confidential and Hammarica.com LLC is under no obligation to treat such User Content as proprietary information except pursuant to the Hammarica.com LLC Privacy Policy. Without limiting the foregoing, Hammarica.com LLC reserves the right to use any User Content as it deems appropriate, including, without limitation, deleting, editing, modifying, rejecting, or refusing to post it.
Hammarica.com LLC is under no obligation to edit, delete or otherwise modify User Content once it has been submitted to Hammarica.com LLC. Hammarica.com LLC shall have no duty to attribute authorship of User Content to you, and shall not be obligated to enforce any form of attribution by third parties.
3. Copyright Ownership.
The Site contains copyrighted material, trademarks and other proprietary information, including, but not limited to, text, software, photos, video, graphics, music and sound, and the entire contents of the Site are copyrighted as a collective work under the United States copyright laws. Hammarica.com LLC owns copyright in the selection, coordination, arrangement and enhancement of such content, as well as in the content original to it. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works, or in any way exploit, any of the content, in whole or in part. You may download copyrighted material for your personal use only. Except as otherwise expressly permitted under copyright law, no copying, redistribution, retransmission, publication or commercial exploitation of downloaded material will be permitted without the express permission of Hammarica.com LLC and the copyright owner. In the event of any permitted copying, redistribution or publication of copyrighted material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend or copyright notice shall be made. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading copyrighted material.
4. Third Party Content.
Hammarica.com LLC is a distributor (and not a publisher or creator) of content supplied by third parties and users. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers or users of the Site, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of Hammarica.com LLC. Neither Hammarica.com LLC nor any third-party provider of information guarantees the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content, nor its merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. (Refer to Section 6 below for the complete provisions governing limitation of liabilities and disclaimers of warranty.)
In many instances, the content available through the Site represents the opinions and judgments of the respective user or information provider not under contract with Hammarica.com LLC. Hammarica.com LLC neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Site by any third party. Under no circumstances will Hammarica.com LLC be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage caused by your use or reliance on information obtained through the Site. Hammarica.com LLC is not responsible for any actions or inaction on your part based on the information that is presented on the Site. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Site. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
5. Advertisements and Promotions.
Hammarica.com LLC may run advertisements and promotions from third parties on the Site. Your business dealings or correspondence with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers other than Hammarica.com LLC, and any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such third party. Hammarica.com LLC is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of third-party advertisers on the Site.
6. Disclaimer of Warranty; Limitation of Liability.
(A) YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. NEITHER Hammarica.com LLC, ITS PARENT, SUBSIDIARIES, ITS OTHER AFFILIATES NOR ANY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, THIRD PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS OR LICENSORS WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO THEY MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE SITE, OR AS TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR CONTENT OF ANY INFORMATION, SERVICE, OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED THROUGH THE SITE.
(C) THE SITE MAY OFFER HEALTH, FITNESS, NUTRITIONAL AND OTHER SUCH INFORMATION, BUT SUCH INFORMATION IS DESIGNED FOR EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE DOES NOT AND IS NOT INTENDED TO CONVEY MEDICAL ADVICE AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE. YOU SHOULD NOT RELY ON THIS INFORMATION AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR, NOR DOES IT REPLACE, PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE, DIAGNOSIS, OR TREATMENT. Hammarica.com LLC IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ACTIONS OR INACTION ON A USER'S PART BASED ON THE INFORMATION THAT IS PRESENTED IN THE SITE.
(D) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL Hammarica.com LLC LLC, OR ITS PRESENT OR FUTURE PARENTS OR AFFILIATED COMPANIES, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY PERSONAL INJURY, PROPERTY DAMAGE, LOST PROFITS, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER AND/OR DEVICE OR TECHNOLOGY FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OR FOR ANY FORM OF DIRECT OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES BASED ON ANY CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF USE OF THE SITE OR ANY ALLEGED FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DELETION, DEFECT, OR DELAY IN SERVICE, OPERATION, OR TRANSMISSION OF THE SITES, OR ANY ALLEGED COMPUTER VIRUS, COMMUNICATION LINE FAILURE, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, AND/OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, ALTERATION OF, OR USE OF OR POSTING OF ANY RECORD, CONTENT, OR TECHNOLOGY, PERTAINING TO OR ON THE SITES. YOU AGREE THAT THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY APPLIES WHEHER SUCH ALLEGATIONS ARE FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORTIOUS BEHAVIOR, NEGLIGENCE, OR FALL UNDER ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION, REGARDLESS OF THE BASIS UPON WHICH LIABILITY IS CLAIMED AND EVEN IF Hammarica.com LLC LLC OR ITS PRESENT OR FUTURE PARENTS OR AFFILIATED COMPANIES HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FORGEOING, YOU ALSO SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT Hammarica.com LLC LLC AND/OR ITS PRESENT OR FUTURE PARENTS AND AFFILIATED COMPANIES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY ACTUAL OR ALLEGED DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OF THE SITES OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTIES.
(G) Hammarica.com LLC disclaims any and all liability of any kind for any unauthorized access to or use of your personally identifiable information. By accessing the Site, you acknowledge and agree to Hammarica.com LLC's disclaimer of any such liability. If you do not agree, you should not access or use the Site.
7. Indemnification.
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Hammarica.com LLC, its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against all claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising out of the use of the Site by you or your Account. Hammarica.com LLC reserves the right to take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this Section. In such event, you shall provide Hammarica.com LLC with such cooperation as is reasonably requested by Hammarica.com LLC.
8. Termination.
Hammarica.com LLC may terminate or suspend these Terms of Service at any time without notice to you. Without limiting the foregoing, Hammarica.com LLC shall have the right to immediately terminate Your Account in the event of any conduct by you which Hammarica.com LLC, in its sole discretion, considers to be unacceptable, or in the event of any breach by you of these Terms of Service. The provisions of Sections 1 — 13 shall survive termination of these Terms of Service.
9. Trademarks.
Hammarica.com LLC, its parent, subsidiaries and affiliates, own all rights to their logos and trademarks used in connection with the Site. All other logos and trademarks appearing on the Site are the property of their respective owners.
10. Governing Law.
The content, data, video, and all other material and features on the Site are presented for the purpose of providing entertainment, news and/or information and/or promoting programs, films, music, games, and other products and/or services that are or may become available in the United States, its territories, possessions, and protectorates.
Any and all disputes, claims and controversies arising out of or in connection with your access to, and/or use of the Sites, and/or the provision of content, services, and/or technology on or through the Sites shall be governed by and construed exclusively in accordance with the laws and decisions of the State of Washington applicable to contracts made, entered into and performed entirely therein, without giving effect to its conflict of laws provisions.
11. Disputes/Arbitration. PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY — IT MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT.
Hammarica.com LLC and you agree that these Terms of Use affect interstate commerce and that the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of these arbitration provisions.
In the event of a dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or in connection with your access to, and/or use of the Site, and/or the provision of content, services, and/or technology on or through the Site, Hammarica.com LLC or you must give the other notice of the dispute, claim, or controversy which notice will include a brief written statement that sets forth the name, address, and contact information of the party giving it, the facts giving rise to the dispute, claim, or controversy and the relief requested. You must send any such notice to Hammarica.com LLC by email to email@example.com AND by U.S. Mail to Hammarica.com LLC LLC 5612 Roosevelt Way NE C4, Seattle WA 98105, United States. To the extent that Hammarica.com LLC has your contact information, it will send any such notice to you by U.S. Mail, or otherwise to your email address. Hammarica.com LLC and you will attempt to resolve any dispute, claim, or controversy through informal negotiation within thirty (30) days from the date that any notice of dispute, claim, or controversy is sent. Hammarica.com LLC and you shall use reasonable, good faith, efforts to settle any dispute, claim, or controversy through consultation and good faith negotiations. After 30 days, Hammarica.com LLC or you may resort to the other alternatives described in this Section. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the notice and 30 day negotiation period required by this paragraph shall not apply, however, to disputes, claims, or controversies concerning patents, copyrights, moral rights, trademarks, and trade secrets and claims of piracy or unauthorized use of the Sites.
Except as otherwise specifically set forth below, any dispute, claim, or controversy of any kind between Hammarica.com LLC and you arising under these Terms of Use or in connection with your access to, and/or use of the Site, and/or the provision of content, services, and/or technology on or through the Site, if unresolved through informal discussions within thirty (30) days of receipt of notice, shall be resolved by binding arbitration to be held in Washington State. Notwithstanding the foregoing, disputes, claims, or controversies concerning patents, copyrights, moral rights, trademarks, and trade secrets and claims of piracy or unauthorized use of the Site shall not be subject to arbitration.
12. Class Action Waiver. PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY — IT MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.
Hammarica.com LLC and you agree that Hammarica.com LLC and you will resolve any disputes, claims or controversies on an individual basis, and that any claims brought under these Terms of Use in connection with the Site will be brought in an individual capacity, and not on behalf of, or as part of, any purported class, consolidated, or representative proceeding. Hammarica.com LLC and you further agree that Hammarica.com LLC and you shall not participate in any consolidated, class, or representative proceeding (existing or future) brought by any third party arising under these Terms of Use or in connection with the Site.
If any court or arbitrator determines that the class action waiver set forth in this paragraph is void or unenforceable for any reason or that arbitration can proceed on a class basis, then the disputes, claims or controversies will not be subject to arbitration and must be litigated in federal court located in Seattle, Washington.
The terms of this provision will also apply to any claims asserted by you against any parent or affiliated company of Hammarica.com LLC to the extent that any such claims arise out of your access to, and/or use of the Site, and/or the provision of content, services, and/or technology on or through the Site.
13. Miscellaneous.
These Terms of Service and any operating rules for the Site established by Hammarica.com LLC constitute the entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersede all previous written or oral agreements between the parties with respect to such subject matter. The provisions of these Terms of Service are for the benefit of Hammarica.com LLC, its parent, subsidiaries, other affiliates and its third party content providers and licensors and each shall have the right to assert and enforce such provisions directly or on its own behalf. If you access the Site, including its Interactive Areas, from any location other than the United States, you accept full responsibility for compliance with all local laws. You are also subject to United States export controls and are responsible for any violations of United States embargoes or other federal rules and regulations restricting exports. No waiver by either party of any breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. If any part of these Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, it will be replaced with language reflecting the original purpose in a valid and enforceable manner. The enforceable sections of these Terms of Use will remain binding upon the parties. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not be given any legal import.
Neither Hammarica.com LLC nor you shall be liable for damages or for delays or failures in performance resulting from acts or occurrences beyond their reasonable control, including, without limitation: fire, lightning, explosion, power surge or failure, water, acts of God, war, terrorism, revolution, civil commotion or acts of civil or military authorities or public enemies: any law, order, regulation, ordinance, or requirement of any government or legal body or any representative of any such government or legal body; or labor unrest, including without limitation, strikes, slowdowns, picketing, or boycotts; inability to secure raw materials, transportation facilities, fuel or energy shortages, or acts or omissions of other common carriers.
14. Copyrights and Copyright Agent.
Hammarica.com LLC respects the rights of all copyright holders and in this regard, Hammarica.com LLC has adopted and implemented a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of users and account holders who infringe the rights of copyright holders. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide Hammarica.com LLC's Copyright Agent the following information required by the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 512:
1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyright work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party;
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
For copyright inquiries under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act please contact:
Copyright Agent
Hammarica.com LLC LLC, 5612 Roosevelt Way C4, Seattle WA 98105 United States.


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Hilarious Video Shows Racism in Sports Is A-Okay [VIDEO]
The NBA has banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life, but could that just be the beginning for proving there's no room for racism in sports?
In this cheeky video, a new (and very much fictitious) group called the No Foul Coalition urges everyone to band together to stop racism in pro sports -- as long as the races are anything but Native American.
The video is funny, but also makes some serious points about how Native Americans have been fighting a battle over team names, with little success.

subset: commoncrawl


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Regional Transit Opportunities Explored
You name it, we tested it as possible opportunities to carry future demand and here's what we found out.
Metro is completely focused on safety, reliability, and financial stability. It's also our job to ensure that the regional transit system improves mobility and connects communities. So we've had many posts on ConnectGreaterWashington over the last few years describing the importance of a regional approach to transit planning. Posts include FAQs, how different modes compare, the paramount importance of transit-supportive land use, an approach to assessing Metrorail, BRT, and LRT expansion projects, and the overall proposed plan for Metrorail and surface transit to name a few.
Finally, we have completed a set of one- to two-page summaries for all the strategies, plans and projects we tested in our evaluation of future needs and opportunities. Note, these summaries are inclusive of everything that we analyzed over the course of ConnectGreaterWashington, but only some are recommended to advance. Some strategies were recommended (e.g. eight-car trains), others were not recommended (e.g. Kansas Ave. infill station), while many were partially recommended (e.g. the I-66 corridor beyond Vienna shows promise as bus rapid transit, light rail, or enhanced bus, but not Metrorail unless and until additional housing and/or jobs are guided to the station areas and new Metrorail lines are added in the core).
Due to the size of the pdfs, the summaries are divided into three documents. First, are the new Metrorail lines in the core, eight-car trains, and interline connections (pdf updated February 24, 2016). Second, are Metrorail pedestrian tunnels, extensions, and infill stations (pdf updated February 24, 2016). Third, are all of the other modes' strategies, plans, and projects (pdf updated February 24, 2016). All documents include bookmarks to help you find the various summaries by topic area.
Each strategy, project, or plan includes:
- A summary of the strategy;
- The goals that were addressed;
- The regional activity centers connected;
- A map that shows the project or plan;
- Key findings for each such as ridership (including new transit riders vs riders gained from other existing modes), transfers, crowding, connectivity, and surrounding density; and
- Recommendations for this strategy.
As we and the region continue to grapple with today's safety, operations and maintenance needs, while also planning for future growth, we will continue to refer to the CGW work undertaken to date. Let us know how you can imagine this body of work being used in the future.


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You want to be healthy and keto, but you still want to eat cookies every once in a while. You love how being grain- and sugar-free makes you feel, but you miss chocolate. Fret no more, lovely readers. You shall have cookies and chocolate and health all at the same time.
I give you Dark Chocolate Espresso Cookies.
Now, just don't go crazy. I'm being serious here. They may have no flour, no grains, no sugar and no unhealthy oils or fats, but if you are new to alternative sweeteners you may need to build up to eating it gradually. A few people experience a little – how shall we say this? – a little intestinal disturbance at first. We don't want that. So go easy until you know it doesn't affect you, or if it does, build up gradually. You should get over it quickly with continued use. If you choose to use xylitol, there are benefits, and those benefits – apart from replacing that nasty, nasty sugar – are wild and wonderful. They include:
- Safe for Diabetics
- Helps prevent cavities
- Helps prevent ear infections
- Slows the growth of candida
- May improve bone density
- Helps tooth enamel & strength
- Increases white blood cell activity
- Prevents Streptococcus mutants in newborns
- May help with allergies & sinus infections
- May lower risk of ovarian cysts
Lots of good stuff! You can get the full scoop here. Bear in mind that xylitol can be poisonous to animals. Check out this post and then decide if xylitol is something you want on your home.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the cookies, which I am certain is all you really care about right now.
I'll be quiet now so you can just get on with the whole baking part.
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Mmmmmm.
Dark Chocolate Espresso Cookies
Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 12 mins | Total time: 27 mins | Serves: 20
- 10 ½ oz. / 300g unsweetened 100% cocoa chocolate (NOT cocoa powder!)
- ¼ cup / 2 fl oz. coconut oil OR avocado oil
- 3 eggs
- 10 ½ oz. 300g xylitol OR 350g allulose
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp espresso coffee powder
- 2 ½ oz. / 70 g almond flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp xanthan gum
- ½ tsp konjac flour / glucomannan powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- Pre-heat over to 325 F (see notes regarding use of allulose)
- Place chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
- Stir occasionally until the two are completely melted together.
- Leave to cool.
- In a bowl, using a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer) beat the eggs, xylitol, vanilla and espresso powder together on high for about 5 minutes until the mixture is pale and thick.
- Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture until evenly mixed.
- Stir in the almond flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, konjac flour (glucomannan powder) and salt until completely mixed. It will start to stiffen as you mix it.
- Leave the cookie dough aside while you line baking sheets with aluminum foil.
- The mixture will stiffen. When it is stiff enough to handle, using your hands, roll dough into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball.
- Place the balls on the lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart, and flatten the balls until they are about 2½ inches across.
- Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 10 – 12 minutes, turning half way through the baking time. They will look dry, but will be still be soft in the center when they are done (see notes regarding use of allulose).
- Remove from the oven and leave on the baking sheet for 10 minutes until the foil and cookies are cool enough to touch.
- Lift the edge of the foil up and over with one hand so that you can peel it away from the cookies as they fall into your other hand.
- These are rather more fragile than regular cookies, so this method means you will get the cookies off successfully.
- Place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Top Recipe Tips
- With baked goods it is super important to use a food scale to weigh the dry ingredients. Seriously. Your keto baking will improve overnight if you make this one change. Listen to this: How and Why to Measure Food. I use this Oxo Digital Scale, but there are plenty of others for less than $10. Trust me when I tell you it is worth every cent and then some!
- Espresso powder is not the same as instant coffee granules, but if instant coffee granules is all you can find and amazon isn't a thing for you (link in the ingredients), then it will work OK, but the flavor will be different and the granules will be difficult to incorporate into the cookie dough well.
- If you are using allulose, reduce the over temperature to 300 F and cook for 8 minutes.
- When we say these are keto, what we mean is that they do not contain any sugars, starches, grains or unhealthy oils. They provide healthy fats, some fiber & the other nutrients that almonds bring to the table. Depending on where you are in your journey, consuming large quantities of nuts might not help you get where you want to go. If that's you, enjoy these as a treat, but don't live on them.
- Check out the Ingredients Guide for information on ingredients.
- Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?
Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links
- More cookie recipes
- Come laugh and learn with us over at The Kitchen Podcast
- Come hang out in The Keto Kitchen Facebook Group
- For lots more great recipes check out our scrumptious cookbooks!
- Check out the categories and tags to help you find more recipes using certain ingredients or from certain categories.
Podcast Episodes and You Tube Videos
- How and Why to Measure Food
- Where Are The Macros and Nutritional Info?
- Keto / Low Carb Treats: should you eat them? Hear what Dr. Ken Berry and I have to say about it!
- Don't. Just buy the correct ingredients and you, too, shall have a fabulous outcome!
- Xylitol or allulose or erythritol are the sweeteners I recommend because they work very well. You can use any other sweetener you like, but I cannot guarantee the results if you choose to use something different. In low carb and keto baking sweeteners are generally not interchangeable if you want great results. If you see a cookie recipe that says you can use anything, they either don't know the difference, don't know what they're doing, or don't care.


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Functional Medicine is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, Functional Medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms.
Functional Medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and evaluating the
interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic
disease. In this way, Functional Medicine supports the unique expression of health and vitality for each individual."


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PATA CEO, Interconnectedness Has Made Us Grow and Strong
Bangkok (Thailand), April 3, 2020 /travelindex.com/ It is unprecedented in our lives to experience such uncertainty and vulnerability as a society, and never before has our industry been impacted so heavily and so comprehensively. Clearly this global crisis will change us and what we do. While I am no more qualified than the next to predict what this will mean to our future and the future of travel and tourism, what I would like to convey is that it is our interconnectedness as an industry that has made us grow and kept us strong for so long. It is these connections that will help us emerge from this together. With this in mind, I hope our PATA community is of value to you in these challenging times.
I wanted to take this opportunity to share some updates concerning the Association, and some initiatives we are taking to help you during the current COVID-19 crisis on our industry.
Due to the postponement of the 69th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the PATA Annual Summit 2020 in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, the PATA Board has confirmed the extension of PATA Officers and the PATA Executive Board to a re-scheduled 69th AGM at the currently scheduled Leshan Board meetings from September 3-6, 2020. The PATA Board has also confirmed that the term of elected PATA Officers will be extended for a total 18-month period from September 2020 to May 2022. For those of you currently nominated for Officer or Executive Board positions in the recent call for elections, "Kay" – Kornchalee Tantimongkonsakul will soon be in contact to confirm your availability to stand for this altered time period. Thank you to those that are willing to commit your time and energy to the Association. We are also committed to the re-organisation of PATA to strengthen the performance and outcomes of the Association into the future, and we will present bylaw changes at the September meeting. PATA will send the notice of the rescheduled AGM 45 days in advance to PATA members.
Please note that if we are unable to hold the meetings in Leshan. we will then organise the AGM online through the Zoom meeting platform software. In addition, we are also looking at alternative solutions regarding the organisation of PATA Travel Mart 2020. Of course, we all hope that conditions will improve, and we will be able to hold the event as planned.
Furthermore, you may have also seen the recent announcement regarding of the newly launched PATA Crisis Resource Center and Tourism Recovery Monitor. This collaborative effort amongst our members and partners is designed to collate reliable data and information to assist all industry stakeholders as they deal with the current crisis. These websites accumulate knowledge, generate support, and help members and industry stakeholders across the globe access solutions by governments, while also assisting governments in understanding the challenges through the travel impact survey. This initiative is a result of pilot Expert Task Forces (ETFs) that are a core component of our new organizational model. I would like to thank our experts that contributed to these initiatives.
I wanted to also take this opportunity to inform you that the Executive Board has made the decision to extend Dr. Mario Hardy's CEO's contract to May 31st, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On behalf of everyone at PATA, I would like to thank Mario for agreeing to the extension of his term and for providing steady, on-going leadership to the Association. We will begin searching for a new CEO in September 2020.
Finally, we are also pleased to confirm that the re-scheduled PATA Annual Summit in Ras Al Khaimah will be held on March 23-26, 2021. We want to convey our appreciation to the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority for their commitment and support.
This time is tough for many of us across the sector. Therefore, I encourage all of you to reach out and check in with each other in our PATA community. It's an important time to do this. It's caring for each other's well-being and sense of community amongst us that makes PATA special.


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WP Ultimate CSV Importer Pro Plugin is a simple all in one but powerful importer plugin to meet all your needs. There are currently 10 modules that helps to import any thing in bulk to your WordPress site. You can import posts, pages, custom post types, users with their roles, categories, nested categories, tags, custom taxonomies, wp commerce and eshop products. Importing in ultimate csv pro is very simple and easy by mapping your csv headers to relevant WP fields. Thatメs it, the importer will import all your data under csv headers to relevant fields one after other. Just a little work to format or alter your csv file as prescribed in the guide. Also the pro importer supports many advanced features like nested categories etc. For complete features list please check our demo and PDF manual. Posts and Pages Module – This module will import all your data into bulk posts or pages. There are 9 fields to map, in which post title and content are mandatory. All other fields are optional. You can also have published date field which can also have a future date that reflects as scheduled post. Optionally you can import as many fields you want as custom fields. You can name these fields as your wish while importing. Pages doesnメt need category and tags. You can assign a feature image for each post or page through a list of image urls. Custom posts – Similar to post and pages you can import any custom post types that is configured in your WordPress. You can also assign feature image for each post created. Category – You can import any number category you want. Category name fiels is mandatory. Slug and description field is optional. Slugs are created automatically if not mapped. Nested category – This module is just like category module, provided you can import nested categories. You can import nested categories through name field like category1 | category2 | category3. If the category doesnメt exist it will be created in a hierarchy as mention in name field. Tags –
[swpm_protected for="2-3″ format_protected_msg="1″]
Import bulk tags using this module and assign to post, custom post or products. Users with roles – Import bulk users with their roles by role id. There 11 fields to map in which user login, email and role are mandatory fields. Roles are mentioned in csv as ids. Please ensure roles are created in advance before import. Other wise default role is assigned for missing role ids. Custom taxonomy – Is your WordPress is configured for custom taxonomy, you can import bulk custom taxonomies as like as nested categories. WP commerce/ eshop – You can import products in bulk if these modules are installed in your WordPress.[/swpm_protected]


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Volleyball Papa Shirt LS, My Favorite Volleyball Player Calls Me Papa
SKU: GLSBLK.S- Regular price
- $28.99
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My Favorite Volleyball Player Calls Me Papa | Custom Volleyball Papa Long Sleeve Shirts. Support your favorite volleyball player with one of these awesome volleyball Papa long sleeve t-shirts. With a variety of design and long sleeve t-shirt color options, you can mix and match to match your player's colors! Plus, you can add a name and even your player's number to the back!
- 100% ring spun combed cotton
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- More Design Colors
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- Add name (s) to the back
- Volleyball Papa t shirts
- Volleyball Papa gifts
Product description: Unisex Gildan 6.1 oz 100% preshrunk cotton. Sport Grey is 90% cotton, 10% polyester. Double-needle stitching, taped neck and shoulders. Quarter-turned to eliminate center crease. Ultra tight knit surface. Easy to fit in, very comfortable, and will keep you both warm and stylish during the colder months of the year. Sizing Chart
Got more than one volleyball player? No problem! Just let us know in the "Special Instructions For Seller" box on the checkout page and we'll change "Player" to "Players" & "Calls" to "Call"
Can't find the right color combination? More t-shirt and design colors are available! Contact us with your request and we'll do our best to come up with a color combination that works for you!


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Running an Escort Agency – 313″>← Previous (#313)
Running an Escort Agency – 315″>Next (#315) →
In many periodicals, she has been called a hooker, an escort and a porn star. In a New York Post article released on October 26th, they labeled her an escort in one sentence, and then followed directly with "the hooker called the front desk…" [1]. The next day, the Post revealed that she was identified as Christina Walsh, a 22 year-old porn star that works under the name of Alexis Capri and insists that she's not a "working girl". The Post made no attempt to apologize for the terms they had used only a day before.
They further went on to insinuate that she was, indeed, "working" that night. She met Sheen at the hotel bar, evidently alone, and when he went into a drugged up rage she called a friend who was "working" elsewhere in the hotel. The Post even questioned her sexuality. In case you were wondering, Walsh is interested in women.
If a Hollywood actor, or politician, or school-teacher, or lawyer were called a hooker in print, in The New York Post, you can bet there'd be a stink about it. Prostitution is illegal. Call someone a "hooker" in print, that's libel.
So why no fuss for Christina?
Admittedly, it is because the lines between the three professions can be blurry when those in the trades walk too fine a line. And the law doesn't give much room for gray.
On escort websites, you'll see a disclaimer, something along the lines of "by utilizing our service you are buying time with one of our professionals. Any sexual act is by consent of two adults and unrelated to our service". Yes, escorts are hired to spend time with clients. Sometimes this is in public for an event or simply to have a beautiful person to talk to at dinner. Sometimes it's in private, with the hope that it will turn into something more. Sometimes that something more is implied, up until the moment it becomes a consensual surety.
Let's look at some definitions of these words.
- Escort:
- 1. A person or group of persons accompanying another to give protection or as a courtesy. 2. The man who goes on a date with a woman. [2]
- Prostitute:
- A person who engages in promiscuous sexual intercourse especially for money. [3]
- Porn Star:
- A person who appears in pornographic films. Most actors appear nude in films (usually filmed in explicit sexual genres). [4]
These definitions are very clear and unbiased. But general public opinion can be much harsher and more judgmental, as shown with the Post's definitions of Christina or as seen at the Urban Dictionary, where anyone can weigh in on definitions of contemporary slang. Look up "porn star" there, and many entries boil down to "a whore with a camera" [5].
Another angle to look at these words from: legality.
Escort: The act of escorting itself is legal, but the business is unregulated. In most states the trade is not recognized as a legal profession, and no laws are set to define and protect an escort from being mistaken for a prostitute.
Prostitute: If two people exchange anything of value for sex, or if someone is caught soliciting sex while offering something of value, they will be legally charged in all 50 states, to varying degrees of fines and jail time.
Porn star: While the media and political focus is generally on internet pornography (which is hard to regulate and can get into the hands of minors) and child-pornography (which is illegal and also hard to track online), there are some states in which it is illegal. And some politicians want to go further with that law federally. But porn films are considered protected speech under the 1st amendment, and as those who purchase the films are paying to watch people have sex and don't get anything in return, it is not considered a form of prostitution [6]. Though the stars of those films, are, essentially, getting paid to have sex.
So back to Christina. She had gotten paid to have sex in pornographic films. She was "working" the Plaza. She was having (or about to have) sex with Charlie Sheen before he flipped out. But we have no understanding of if money was exchanged, if it was intended to be, or what it would have been for.
Did the New York Post know the answer? Doubtable.
Escort Agency Talk – Original article found on skipthegames.com


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My approach to treating running injuries has steadily evolved over the past few years. Fresh out of school, I was focused on pathology: what hurts and how do we heal that tissue as quickly as possible.
My exposure to the Institute of Physical Art has made my approach vastly more comprehensive, encompassing mechanical, neuromuscular, and motor control factors: not simply in the injured areas, but throughout the system, recognizing the interconnectivity of the entire system. For example, a chronic foot and ankle pain issue might have vital dysfunctional components in the arm swing, or even the neck.
More recently, I've come to realize the importance of internal, physiological factors in injury and healing, and how metabolism–intensity-dependent energy systems–affect tissue stress and healing.
But I keep learning. Mostly because people–including me–continue to get injured!
Getting to the Core
A major component of run mechanics–and in comprehensive running-injury treatment–is the core-stability system. Core stability, in its simplest definition, is proximal stability and distal mobility: moving the arms and legs on a stable, strong trunk and pelvic base.
When the base is not stable, bad things can happen to the moving parts. As one co-worker puts it, "A weak core is like trying to fire a cannon from a canoe." Another puts it as, "a rope pulling on a marshmallow wall." Without a stable base, the things–muscles, tendons, ligaments–pushing or pulling on the base are overstressed.
But besides keeping us together, the core-stability system is a speed and power generator: not only does the core generate power through facilitating that arm and leg motion, but it also saves energy by storing it, not allowing aberrant motions, like bends and twists and collapses, to rob you of that stored energy.
The importance of core and gluteal muscle strength is widely known: all runners know about it, and all of us do some core strengthening at some point. Yet the bulk of what we do, even what we dole out as healthcare professionals, is largely either slow or static movements, or faster movements that are nonspecific to actual running.
Frequently, core and glut muscles are facilitated and strong, yet when a runner strides out, the same issues–inefficient trunk and pelvic motions–persist! Drills and cues can help, but fatigue tends to wipe away their effectiveness. My challenge as a clinician and a runner is to develop core stability with direct carryover to running.
It was time to get specific.
Dynamic Stabilization, In Stride
Three years ago, I came across an interesting video promoted by The New York Times and Born to Run author, Chris McDougall. In the video, he identifies a running drill he discovered in studying runners from the turn of the 20th Century, called 'The 100-Up.'
He demonstrates this exercise, which was developed by a runner named W.G. George in England in the late 1870s. The drill, quite simply, is marching or lightly hopping in place. The value, so I thought, came from the pattern–reciprocal leg and arm action–and the endurance strength obtained from doing a hundred reps!
I never integrated this exercise into my practice or run routine, because I felt my exercises and run specific mobility drills were superior.
Until recently.
Dynamic Running Stability, In-Pattern
Beginning this winter, perhaps timed with the onset of rain and snow in Oregon, I began to see a slew of injured runners with one thing in common: the inability to keep their trunk stacked on top of their pelvis and hips. While their aches and pain are varied (hip pain, lateral thigh, knee, ankle or foot–the sky's the limit), they all had difficulty keeping themselves stable on a single leg.
This is a problem, because putting all your weight on one leg (and balancing it there for a third of a second) is what running is! Searching for a way to practice this single-leg stability, I recalled the George exercise, and McDougall's video.
I began to use it. And people began to get better more quickly and sustainably.
The benefits of this exercise are two-fold:
- The 100-up, when done specifically, is 'in-pattern' with efficient running mechanics: it replicates the arm, leg, scapular and pelvic patterns seen in core-driven running gait mechanics. As such, performing this exercise reinforces this efficient pattern.
- The exercise–namely the second, jumping progression–represents the specific demands of running: the ability to push off one leg and land on the other, in-pattern. But most importantly, you must stay balanced!
What I found with folks performing this exercise is that they would have the most trouble on the side of their pain. Folks with back, hip, thigh, knee, shin, or foot pain on the left would have more difficulty 'sticking the landing' on that left side without wobbling or flat-out falling to that side. In effect, their lack of core stability on that side caused increased stress to their problem area.
The exercise then became the gatekeeper between healthy runners and those still needing work. Those who could do it, could return to running (yet still practice it, and on increasingly challenging surfaces). For those who could not, it was back to the drawing board (or treatment table) to address any dysfunctions before trying again.
The Exercise
Begin standing on one leg. To emphasize the core-driven running pattern, use your abdominals to shorten the trunk on the drive-knee side, and the pelvis will hike, slightly, without slumping the back. The opposite, stance-side trunk will lengthen, helping to facilitate gluteal activation. Arm swing follows suit, with elbow down and back with hip up, and elbow up and forward on the stance side:
The standing version of this exercise simply involves reciprocation: marching in place, alternating legs and arms. Any runner who has difficultly (outside coordination) with this exercise likely needs additional core facilitation (or joint mobility).
The jumping version is more exciting:
The microcorrections noted in my video will actually help develop more strength through the trunk, pelvis, and hips.
Exercise Progressions and Utility for Ultrarunners
Once mastered, the 100-Up can be progressed to more challenging surfaces, including:
A soft mat or pad:
… and even a BOSU ball!
This drill is important for all runners, but even more so for ultrarunners, because this quick reversal–especially on uneven surfaces–replicates the demands of technical terrain, particularly on downhills. The ability to run quickly and efficiently down steep, technical hills requires the instantaneous dynamic stability found in the 100-Up. When this drill is well mastered, the trunk and hip stabilizers will absorb the bulk of the downhill stress, not the joints and muscles of the legs.
So give it a try, whether you're injured or simply looking to improve your trail running ability!


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Toy maker Jakks posts disappointing earnings
MALIBU, Calif. — Toy maker Jakks Pacific reported that net sales for the fourth quarter of 2012 were $133.5 million, compared with $141.1 million reported in the comparable period in 2011.
The reported net loss for the fourth quarter was $119.5 million, or $5.45 per diluted share. This compares with a net loss of $20 million, or 77 cents per diluted share.
Stephen Berman, president and CEO, Jakks Pacific, Inc. stated, "We are disappointed by our performance in the fourth quarter. The difficult and challenging toy environment did not generate the sales that had been anticipated, and several of our key products did not achieve the sales levels that we had planned for, also resulting in license royalty minimum guarantee shortfalls."
"However, we are optimistic for our future growth and profitability. We believe that our core business lead by our infant/preschool, seasonal and Halloween segments, in conjunction with meaningful reductions in operating costs, will return the company to profitability in 2013."
Berman continued, "We believe that the difficult environment for toys in 2012 resulted from rapid changes in children's play patterns as tablet and smartphone devices and interactive games and toys have more and more become cornerstones of their play and fun experiences. We recognize that it is critical for us to provide new, more exciting and magical experiences for today's child compatible with these new play patterns. We believe that our partnership with NantWorks in creating our DreamPlay line of toys using NantWorks proprietary iD recognition technology will place JAKKS in the forefront of the play revolution we are witnessing."
"We believe that applying this technology to a broad array of characters and play patterns will create new consumer demand for Jakks products and will help Jakks achieve substantial long range growth and profitability, warranting the investment in technology and content that we are making."
For 2013, the company anticipates an increase in net sales of 4% to 5% to approximately $694 million to $700 million, with diluted earnings per share in the range of approximately 63 cents to 68 cents. This guidance anticipates first-quarter 2013 net sales in the range of $70 to $73 million, with a loss per share in the range of 83 cents to 85 cents.


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Greetings from the Department of Natural Resources Atchafalaya Basin Program!
News: WRKF: Folk Medicine Meets Modern Medicine Along the Atchafalaya KATC: Tour de la Rivere Rouge results The Advocate: Anglers score big at bass tournament Louisiana Sportsman: Two sides of the coin - Expert tips for fall Atchafalaya Basin bass fishing The Advocate: Macaluso fishing report: North winds should be a big help The Advocate: Lake Charles event celebrates Acadians' arrival Upcoming Meetings of the ABP for the 2017 Annual Plan: Public Meeting, Tues., Oct. 6 at 6 pm at City Hall, 1007 Amy St. in Henderson Public Meeting, Wed., Oct. 7 at 6 pm at the Iberville Parish Chambers, 58050 Meriam St. in Plaquemine Public Meeting, Thurs., Oct. 8 at 6 pm at the Visitor Center, 900 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Morgan City Save the Date: Swamp Life Expo, Oct. 3 from 10 am to 3 pm at the Iberville Visitors Center in Gross Tete La Grande Boucherie, Oct. 3 from 10 am to 11 pm in St. Martinville Washington Catfish Festival, Oct. 1-4 at the Washington Festival Grounds French Immersion Excursion, Oct. 6 and 10 from 10 am to noon, paddling trip at Lake Martin in Breaux Bridge I Always Do My Collars First, 12 pm, Oct. 7, free film showing at the West Baton Rouge Museum, 845 North Jefferson Avenue, in Port Allen. Attakapas, the Story of the Cajun People, Oct. 7 and 8 at 7:30 pm at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette 13th Annual Catfish Festival, Oct 9-10, at the Melville Civic Center, 1105 First Street Tour Des Atakapas, Oct. 10. Three, five, and seven-mile runs benefiting the completion of the Atakapas-Ishak Trail in Breaux Bridge. Grand Réveil - Women Crafting Our Culture, Oct. 3 - 31 at the St. Landry Parish Visitor Center in Opelousas Longfellow-Evangeline Historic Site Tours, daily Wed - Sun from 9 am - 5 pm.
Save the Date:
Send in your Basin Pics! Let us know if you have an upcoming event to promote the Basin!
Send in your Basin Pics!
Let us know if you have an upcoming event to promote the Basin!
Checking the water:The information below is obtained from the USGS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and has been compiled by DNR into this format to allow a quick look at information pertinent to the Atchafalaya Basin. Click here for current weather conditions and water levels.
Data is for 10/2/2015
Ohio River at CairoLocation: Southernmost gauge on the Ohio River in Illinois Reading significance - used to forecast rises on the Mississippi. Lag time, 4 to 6 days.Flood Stage: 40'Stage: 17.1'24 hour change: +2.5'Forecast: expect to RISE to 19.9' by 10/07
Mississippi River, just south of ORCS, at Red River LandingReading: Mississippi River south of ORCS, after the diversion into the Atchafalaya Flood Stage: 48'Stage: 21.1'24 hour change: -0.2'Forecast: expect to FALL to 20.5' by 10/07
Mississippi River at Baton RougeFlood Stage: 35'Stage: 8.4'24 hour change: -0.1'Forecast: expect to FALL to 7.8' by 10/07
Mississippi River at New OrleansFlood Stage: 17'Stage: 3.7'24 hour change: 0.0'Forecast: expect to FALL to 3.5' by 10/07
Atchafalaya River, just south of ORCS, at SimmesportReading: The combined latitudinal flows of the Red, Black, Ouachita, and ORCS flow from the Mississippi Flood Stage: 47'Stage: 5.8'Forecast: expect to FALL to 5.5' by 10/07
Atchafalaya River at MelvilleFlood Stage: 34'Stage: 3.5'Forecast: expect to FALL to 3.3' by 10/07
Atchafalaya River at Krotz SpringsFlood Stage: 29'Stage: 3.1'Forecast: expect to FALL to 2.9' by 10/07
Atchafalaya River above Butte LaroseFlood Stage: 20'Stage: 2.5'Forecast: expect to REMAIN at 2.5' through 10/07
Atchafalaya River at Bayou Sorrell Locks on the GIWWFlood Stage: 12'Stage: 3.1'Forecast: expect to FALL to 2.7' by 10/07
Atchafalaya at Millet (Myette) PointFlood Stage: 15'Stage: 1.6'Forecast: expect to REMAIN at 1.6' through 10/07
Atchafalaya River at Morgan CityFlood Stage: 6'Stage: 1.5'Forecast: expect to RISE to 1.7 by 10/07
Lower Grand River at Bayou SorrelStage: 5.95'
Bayou CourtableauStage: 18.44'
Middle Fork, Bayou LongStage: 1.91'
Arm of Grand Lake near Crook CheneStage: 6.29'
Pontoon Bridge at Butte LaroseStage: 5.08'
Lake Pelba at I-10, HendersonStage: 8.83'


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It's incredibly easy to sink into semantic quicksand when talking about this stuff. This is because the universe has played a trick on you by supplying you with a continual stream of overwhelming evidence that the universe is populated by material objects that exist in particular places at particular times, and that have a continuity of identity such that it makes sense to say things like, "The vase on that table exists." The reason that continuity of identity matters is that it's required to make sense of the phrase, "The vase on that table." For that phrase to make sense, the vase that is on the table now has to be the same vase that is there a microsecond from now. If this were not so, then the vase on the table at time T0 might have existed at T0, but at time T0+epsilon it no longer exists. Instead, it's a different vase that exists at T0+epsilon (and a different one yet again at time T0+2epsilon).
This probably sounds like I'm being pedantic, because it's just obvious that material objects like vases do have continuity of identity. The evidence for it is just overwhelming. But despite the overwhelming evidence, it is in fact not true. And you don't even have to get into quantum mechanics to see that it is not the case. All you have to do is to try to define what "the same thing" actually means. When you do this, you run headlong into the "ship of Theseus" problem, which is so-called because of the manner in which it was first described by Plutarch around the time of Christ:
The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned [from Crete] had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.Replace the word "planks" with "atoms" and you have a modern version of this puzzle: if you replace every atom in an object with a different but identical atom, do you end up with the same object or a different object? The collection of atoms you end up with after the replacement process will be completely indistinguishable from the collection you started with, so on what possible basis could you call the new collection "different"?
This is not an academic question. The atoms in your own body are continually being replaced in exactly this way. None of the atoms in your body today are the same as the atoms in your body when you were born. In fact, even the arrangement of atoms in your body changes. So in what sense can you say that you are "the same person" that you were when you were born? Or even last year? Or yesterday? Or a minute ago?
Or consider this: suppose I take a tree and cut it down. Is it still a tree? Suppose I mill it into lumber and build a house out of it. At what point did it stop being a tree and start being a house?
OK, OK, I hear you saying, the temporal and spatial boundaries of the identities of things referred to by words are fuzzy, but surely that does not cast doubt on the proposition that while a collection of atoms is arranged as a tree or a house or whatever, that that tree or that house actually exists in point of metaphysical fact, does it? Well, yes, it does. Why? Because atoms themselves are just arrangements of sub-atomic "particles". (And, of course, I put "particles" in scare quotes because sub-atomic particles are not really particles, but I don't want to get lost in the quantum weeds.)
To take an example that is prosaic to the modern mind but would have been every bit as esoteric as quantum mechanics to a person living a mere 100 years ago, consider the question, "Does software exist?" Surely the answer is "yes". Surely humanity has not built a multi-billion-dollar industry on a delusions. Surely there is some salient difference between software and (say) leprechauns. But if you try to get a handle on what software actually is you will find it to be every bit as elusive as a leprechaun. What is software made out of? What is its mass? What color is it? (Notice that we can actually give a meaningful answer to that last question for leprechauns: they are green!)
No sane modern person can deny the existence of software. And yet it is clear that the manner in which software exists is very different from the manner in which trees and houses exist. They obey very different laws of physics. Trees and houses are made of atoms which obey conservation laws. Software is made of bits, which don't obey conservation laws.
But the manner-of-existence of trees and houses shares one very important feature with the manner-of-existence of software: both depend on arrangements. What determines if a particular collection of atoms is a tree or a house is their arrangement. What determines whether a particular collection of bits is Microsoft Word or Mozilla Firefox is their arrangement.
Arrangement is everything. Planet earth has had more or less the same repertoire of atoms since it was formed four billion years ago (modulo the odd asteroid) but an endless variety of different kinds of things that consisted of nothing more than those same old atoms arranging and re-arranging themselves into different patterns. (And, of course, the atoms themselves are just different arrangements (scientists call them "states") of the quantum wave function.)
However: just because arrangement is everything (or everything is an arrangement) doesn't mean that there aren't useful distinctions to be made between different kinds of arrangements. Atoms are arrangements (states -- same thing) of the quantum wave function, but the kinds of phenomena that the wave function can directly produce are very limited: a dozen or so fundamental particles that arrange themselves into a hundred or so (depending on how you count) different kinds of atoms. That's it. That's all quantum mechanics does on its own. Not really very interesting.
But once you get to atoms, something fundamentally new happens: you get chemistry. Atoms interact with each other in ways that are fundamentally different from the way in which the quantum wave function arranges itself to produce atoms. Of course, the behavior of atoms are still constrained by quantum mechanics. Nothing magic happens when atoms produce chemistry. But the level of complexity rises by orders of magnitude. This is what is meant by the slogan "classical reality emerges from the quantum wave function."
To get to us humans, you have to go through at least two more of these "quantum leaps" (no pun intended): you have to go from chemistry to life, and you have to go from life to brains. Each of these transitions introduces fundamentally new kinds of behavior which "emerge" each from the level before. Again, no magic, no suspension of the laws of physics, just ever increasing levels of complexity.
Brains are not the final step in this process, however. Mice have brains, but they can't do math. Eventually you get to brains that are big enough that they can emulate Turing machines and do math and other symbolic computations. Somewhere along that path they invent language as well. Once they've done that, multiple brains can arrange themselves into villages, city-states, corporations...
Arrangement is everything!
So... do you exist? Do atoms exist? Does life exist? Do corporations exist? Does music exist? Do leprechauns exist? Yes. All of these things exist. They all exist as arrangements of something. Leprechauns exist as ideas, as fiction, as arrangements of thoughts in people's brains. Brains exist as arrangements of atoms. Atoms exist as arrangements (states) of the wave function.
Each of these "levels" is an ontological category. The right question to ask is not, "Does X exist." The answer is always "yes". The right question is, "What is the nature of X's existence?" or "To which ontological category does X belong?"
So let us ask the right question: to which ontological category do you, the thing that is reading these words, belong? Most people think that they belong to the ontological category of material objects, that is, the same ontological category as trees and houses. But that is wrong. Your body belongs to that ontological category, but you -- the thing that is reading these words -- do not. The thing that is reading these words is not your body: if (and please pardon the gruesome imagery) someone amputated all of your limbs and replaced all of your internal organs with artificial equivalents, you would still be you. But if someone deprived you of oxygen long enough to render you brain-dead, you wouldn't. (That's why we talk about "kidney failure" but not "kidney death", "brain death" not "brain failure.") You are a computational process, reified as an arrangement of electrical impulses in a human brain. Because we do not yet know how to copy software out of brains the way we can out of computers, you (the software process) are tightly bound to your brain. And because we do not yet know how to replace all other parts of the human body, your brain is tightly bound to your body, and that is why you (the computational process) feel a particular kinship with your body. But nonetheless, you and your body are not only distinct, they exist in different ontological categories. Your body is a material object. You (the thing that is reading these words) aren't.
Some important things to note about ontological categories: once you get beyond the basics (QM -> atoms -> chemistry -> life -> brains) things get very complicated. It is not clear how many ontological categories there are beyond brains. Music, fiction, math, law and language are five different OCs that I can come up with just off the top of my head. There are probably more. The boundaries between them are not crisp, and they don't form a hierarchy. All of them fall into the meta-OC of "mental construct".
So, my claim about God is: God belongs in the ontological category of "myth" with is a subset of the ontological category of "fiction" which is a subset of the ontological category of "mental construct". And if any of that sounds at all like I'm being pejorative or dismissive about God then you have not understood a single word I've said.
This is not to say that you can't disagree with me. There are two ways you could do this:
1. You could argue that God belongs in a different ontological category. In which case you have to tell me which ontological category you think He belongs to.
2. You could argue that God transcends ontological categories, or that He is the sum total of all ontological categories. But if you want to take that position, then you will have to explain to me how that statement contains any information, because defined that way "God" seems to be nothing more than a synonym for "everything". (And so my next question will be: how can the Bible and Jesus -- or anything else for that matter -- possibly have any kind of privileged status with respect to "everything"?)
Let the games begin.