text:
Engage Your Patients with Education Initiatives
Communicate with Your Referring Physicians for Better Patient Care
Patient Cases to Grow Your WATCHMAN LAAC Program
WATCHMAN Workflow Post-Procedure: Part 2
Download these Resources
WATCHMAN Pharmacologic Regimen >
Patient Referral Thank You Letter >
45-Day TEE Discharge Instructions >
45-Day TEE Telephone Follow-Up >
45-Day Referral Follow-Up Letter >
WATCHMAN Workflow Post-Procedure: Part 1
CMS LAAC Shared Decision Demystified
LAAC From a Referring Cardiologist's Perspective
WATCHMAN Workflow Pre-Procedure: Part 2
WATCHMAN Workflow Pre-Procedure: Part 1
Download these Resources
BSC Letter Template: Introduction Letter >
BSC Letter Template: Observation Invitation Letter >
BSC Letter Template: Observation Thank You Letter >
WATCHMAN Pre-Procedure Assessment & Eligibility Form >
WATCHMAN Pre-Screening Checklist >
Shared Decision-Making Brochure >
WATCHMAN Left Atrial Appendage Closure Device with Delivery System and WATCHMAN Access System
The WATCHMAN Device is indicated to reduce the risk of thromboembolism from the left atrial appendage in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation who:
- Are at increased risk for stroke and systemic embolism based on CHADS2 or CHA2DS2-VASc scores and are recommended for anticoagulation therapy;
- Are deemed by their physicians to be suitable for warfarin; and
- Have an appropriate rationale to seek a non-pharmacologic alternative to warfarin, taking into account the safety and effectiveness of the device compared to warfarin.
The WATCHMAN Access System is intended to provide vascular and transseptal access for all WATCHMAN Left Atrial Appendage Closure Devices with Delivery Systems.
Do not use the WATCHMAN Device if:
- Intracardiac thrombus is visualized by echocardiographic imaging.
- An atrial septal defect repair or closure device or a patent foramen ovale repair or closure device is present.
- The LAA anatomy will not accommodate a device. See Table 46 in the DFU.
- Any of the customary contraindications for other percutaneous catheterization procedures (e.g., patient size too small to accommodate TEE probe or required catheters) or conditions (e.g., active infection, bleeding disorder) are present.
- There are contraindications to the use of warfarin, aspirin, or clopidogrel.
- The patient has a known hypersensitivity to any portion of the device material or the individual components (see Device Description section) such that the use of the WATCHMAN Device is contraindicated.
- Device selection should be based on accurate LAA measurements obtained using fluoro and ultrasound guidance (TEE recommended) in multiple angles (e.g., 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°).
- Do not release the WATCHMAN Device from the core wire if the device does not meet all release criteria.
- If thrombus is observed on the device, warfarin therapy is recommended until resolution of thrombus is demonstrated by TEE.
- The potential for device embolization exists with cardioversion <30 days following device implantation. Verify device position post-cardioversion during this period.
- Administer appropriate endocarditis prophylaxis for 6 months following device implantation. The decision to continue endocarditis prophylaxis beyond 6 months is at physician discretion.
- For single use only. Do not reuse, reprocess, or resterilize.
- The safety and effectiveness (and benefit-risk profile) of the WATCHMAN Device has not been established in patients for whom long-term anticoagulation is determined to be contraindicated.
- The LAA is a thin-walled structure. Use caution when accessing the LAA and deploying the device.
- Use caution when introducing the WATCHMAN Access System to prevent damage to cardiac structures.
- Use caution when introducing the Delivery System to prevent damage to cardiac structures.
- To prevent damage to the Delivery Catheter or device, do not allow the WATCHMAN Device to protrude beyond the distal tip of the Delivery Catheter when inserting the Delivery System into the Access Sheath.
- If using a power injector, the maximum pressure should not exceed 100 psi.
- In view of the concerns that were raised by the RE-ALIGN1 study of dabigatran in the presence of prosthetic mechanical heart valves, caution should be used when prescribing oral anticoagulants other than warfarin in patients treated with the WATCHMAN Device. The WATCHMAN Device has only been evaluated with the use of warfarin post-device implantation.
Potential adverse events (in alphabetical order) which may be associated with the use of a left atrial appendage closure device or implantation procedure include but are not limited to:Air embolism, Airway trauma, Allergic reaction to contrast media/medications or device materials, Altered mental status, Anemia requiring transfusion, Anesthesia risks, Angina, Anoxic encephalopathy, Arrhythmias, Atrial septal defect, AV fistula, Bruising, hematoma or seroma, Cardiac perforation, Chest pain/discomfort, Confusion post procedure, Congestive heart failure, Contrast related nephropathy, Cranial bleed, Decreased hemoglobin, Deep vein thrombosis, Death, Device embolism, Device fracture, Device thrombosis, Edema, Excessive bleeding, Fever, Groin pain, Groin puncture bleed, Hematuria, Hemoptysis, Hypotension, Hypoxia, Improper wound healing, Inability to reposition, recapture, or retrieve the device, Infection/pneumonia, Interatrial septum thrombus, Intratracheal bleeding, Major bleeding requiring transfusion, Misplacement of the device/improper seal of the appendage/movement of device from appendage wall, Myocardia erosion, Nausea, Oral bleeding, Pericardial effusion/tamponade, Pleural effusion, Prolonged bleeding from a laceration, Pseudoaneurysm, Pulmonary edema, Renal failure, Respiratory insufficiency/failure, Surgical removal of the device, Stroke – Ischemic, Stroke – Hemorrhagic, Systemic embolism, TEE complications (throat pain, bleeding, esophageal trauma), Thrombocytopenia, Thrombosis, Transient ischemic attack (TIA), Valvular damage, Vasovagal reactions. There may be other potential adverse events that are unforeseen at this time.
CAUTION: Federal law (USA) restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician. Rx only. Prior to use, please see the complete "Directions for Use" for more information on Indications, Contraindications, Warnings, Precautions, Adverse Events, and Operator's Instructions.
1. Eikelboom JW, Connolly SJ, Brueckmann M, et al. N Engl J Med 2013;369:1206-14.


text:
Bibliography of bibliographic sources:
Beethoven-Bibliographien. Compiled by Karl Stock, Rudolf Heilinger, Marylene Stock. Graz: Selbstverlag Stock & Stock, 1986. 78 pp.
Includes 385 citations for works up to 1985 containing Beethoven bibliographies. Indexed by title and editor.
Annotated bibliography:
Beethoven Abstracts. Compiled and annotated by Donald MacArdle, but completed and edited after his death in 1964 by Sonja Pogodda. Detroit: Information Associates, 1973. 432 pp.
Lots of problems here, but a useful annotated bibliography all the same. Abstracts primary and secondary periodicals.
Computer bibliography:
Beethoven Gateway. Co-directed by William Meredith and Patricia Stroh at the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University. 1990 - .
The Beethoven Gateway is designed to be a comprehensive, computer-based Beethoven bibliography with enhanced online search capabilities. Over 14,000 bibliographic records have been entered to date.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
While U.S. airstrikes in Iraq have damaged the ruthless terrorist group known as ISIS, there are fears it may also be elevating the status of their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - and turning his attention towards Western targets. CNN's Brian Todd profiles the mysterious figure, aiming to inherit the mantle of Osama bin Laden.
You must be logged in to post a comment.


text:
Among all the children's book themed slot games, Goldilocks and the Wild Bears game is the most recent one to make the transition. You are surprised by the exceptional visual and audio display; you can take a trip back to your childhood and bask in its simple innocence. Although there is nothing naive about the big wins that you can amass by playing this 5 reel 25 payline slot game.
The Goldilocks and the Wild Bears symbols
Staying true to the classic children's tale, it has the mischievous Goldilocks rummaging through the Bear Family's home, eating their delicious porridge and playing with cards from 10 through Ace on the reels. Even the stuffed teddy bear is not spared from her naughtiness.
The Goldilocks and the Wild Bears slot game is a 5 reel 25 payline game from the Microgaming repository. As always, it excels by bringing top class design and graphic for its players. Right from the start, the look and feel reminds you of actually flipping through the real children's book.
wilds: The game has two wild symbols to round up the gameplay. The first one is the Bear Home symbol. It is the normal wild which will substitute for all the other symbols except for the scattered Goldilocks symbol. It is also the top paying symbol when 5 of them show up on the reels to pay 1,000 coins.
The other is the Wild Multiplier Porridge Bowl symbol which gives you 2x, 3x or 4x times the wagered bet when seen as part of the payline. It also acts as a regular wild symbol.
strooi: The fun unfolds when Goldilocks creates mayhem by making the entire Bear family turn Wild during the free spins. As she is the scatter symbol, you can win 10 free spins by finding 3 of her on the reels.
There is another alter ego, naughty self of Goldilocks (as a Free Spin progressive scatter symbol) who will taunt the bears into turning Wild by triggering the Bears Turn Wild feature. You can even win extra free spins by landing more of her taunting symbol on the reels.
Min / maksimum weddenskap per draai (£/$/€): 0.01 – 5.0
Boerpot (£ / $ / €): 1,000 coins (base game)
Sluit gedagtes
The neat, clear and crisp layout of the Goldilocks and the Wild Bears slot game will make you play for a long time. Add the regular wins from the free spins and you have a winner on your hands. Enjoy this fun and good looking game!


text:
All change is bad. The Smart Electricity Meter roll out offers a test of this claim. These meters provide us with real time information about our minute by minute electricity consumption. In a world where we are glued to our Iphones and Blackberries, shouldn't such information be useful and improve our quality of life? After all, these $100 meters will replace the antiquated monthly electricity bill. Like Star Trek's Captain Kirk, you will now be an informed captain of your own ship!
To paraphrase Sy Sims, an educated consumer should be a better customer. But, the NY Times is reporting that a revolt is breaking out. The first guinea pigs of the smart meter roll out are complaining that they are being price gouged. The utilities are countering that the bills are high because of weather shocks not a malfunctioning machine or a corrupt machine.
Economists are hoping that these devices will spread quickly across all households. If households had real time access to information about their consumption of electricity, then electric utilities could offer special incentive programs to such customers to shift their daily consumption. Leading economists continue to explore how households change their behavior when they face critical peak pricing . So imagine if your utility sent you a letter saying that it would send you a check for $100 each summer month but in return you must agree to face much higher prices per kWh when electricity is at peak demand. Armed with your smart meter, you would know when these "peak periods" were taking place. Such a contract would help the utility because if it signed up enough people, this would reduce the likelihood of a blackout and it might need to build less electric utility capacity to meet anticipated demand.
Now there are two research questions here; 1. selection --- who would sign up for this program? If I plan to be in Paris all summer, then I will sign up for this program and receive the $100 check but true aggregate electricity demand doesn't decline because of this program because I would have been out of the country if they had or had not given me the check. 2. Treatment --- facing the high price for electricity at peak times --- how do people change their daily routine? Do they go for a swim at an outdoor pool rather than cranking the AC while watching their plasma TV? Price signals can play a useful role in our society when we allow them to reflect scarcity!
This backlash against the smart meters is ugly. The utilities should have rolled out these devices in areas where people support conservation goals and trust the electric utilities. This group of "guinea pigs" would have offered valuable lessons on perfecting this new technology. Instead, we now have a paranoia brewing.
Add/view comments on this post.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link above.


text:
Pluck is developing the next generation of Internet search, information presentation, and personalized content syndication. It provides a Web Information Management Application that integrates multiple web productivity tools to simplify and improve how users consume, control and create web information. Pluck's publishing paradigm uses a hosted web server that allows consolidation of information into a single interface.
PreCash provides convenient, real-time payment solutions that convert cash into electronic payments for consumers who do not use traditional payment methods such as credit cards or bank accounts. PreCash offers the Vision PremierSM Prepaid Visa card and other prepaid Visa and MasterCard products, prepaid debit card program management services, real-time cash bill payments, prepaid wireless refills, payroll card products and more. The company places more than 30,000 prepaid debit cards in the market monthly and services more than 30,000 national retail, wireless dealers and independent retail locations nationwide. Founded in 1998, PreCash is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional offices in Portland, Oregon.
Prenova helps companies control energy spend by reducing utility costs and improving energy efficiency. We work hand-in-hand with our customers to develop an energy strategy that fits their unique business needs. Then we help them implement this strategy consistently across the organization by providing services that span the entire energy lifecycle. From sourcing energy to controlling energy consumption, Prenova's solutions can reduce energy spend by 10-20%. That's why companies like Burger King, Costco, Dollar Tree, Dress Barn, and The Home Depot turn to Prenova.
High-performance local area networking products
Pyxis is an early-stage EDA company that is developing a next generation router for use in the design of semiconductor devices.
Re:Trans' non-asset-based, multi-modal service model allows it to select the most efficient mode or carrier for any customer requirement. Re:Trans also has access to numerous warehousing and storage facilities suitable for various freight handling needs. This flexibility, combined with the skills of experienced logistics professionals, gives Re:Trans the ability to effectively manage all aspects of a customer's supply chain. Logistics issues are increasingly critical to a company's success, and they require specialized knowledge and attention to detail - especially when linked to high performance information systems. By using Re:Trans to assist with the execution of logistics operations, customers are able to focus on their core business activities and objectives.
Reactivity provides secure XML infrastructures used by enterprises to realize the promise of web services architectures.
RetailMeNot, Inc is the world's leading marketplace for online coupons and deals. The company's websites enable consumers seeking to save money to find hundreds of thousands of offers from retailers across the globe.
Revenue Cycle Solutions (RCS) has developed proprietary technology for efficiently collecting small-balance hospital receivables. Built from the ground up, with an exclusive focus on small-balance insurance claims, RCS "finds" and collects millions of dollars of additional cash for its hospitals customers. Once all insurance balances have been collected, RCS provides the most configurable and patient-friendly, self-pay collection process in the industry. The result is higher collections and patient satisfaction providing RCS with an unmatched hospital customer reference list and wide recognition as the fastest growing firm in the hospital receivable management industry. RCS is based in Chicago, IL.
Provider of management software to OEMs with rack dense servers
Based in Austin, Texas, RunTitle is a big data startup in the upstream oil & gas industry. RunTitle has built and maintains the largest (and ever-expanding) database of previously-inaccessible mineral title research. By accessing RunTitle data, oil & gas companies vet potential opportunities faster and make smarter acquisition decisions.
SailPoint, the market-leading provider of on-premises and SaaS-based identity management solutions, helps the world's largest organizations mitigate risk, reduce IT costs and ensure compliance. The company's innovative solutions, IdentityIQTM and AccessIQTM, provide superior visibility into and control over user access to sensitive applications and data, regardless of where they reside.SailPoint's product suite provides customers a unified solution for risk-aware compliance management, closed-loop user lifecycle management, flexible provisioning, cloud access management, and identity intelligence; all based on an integrated governance model.
Founded in 1994 in Austin, Texas, Surveying And Mapping, Inc. is a leading independent full-service provider of land surveying and mapping capabilities for clients in the domestic infrastructure industry. Supported by state-of-the-art technology, the company offers end-to-end geospatial solutions through an extensive suite of services, including professional land surveying, hydrographic surveying, aerial mapping and photogrammetry, airborne, mobile, and terrestrial HDS LiDAR, subsurface utility engineering, utility coordination, geographic information system (GIS) asset inventory and management, as well as construction phase services through SAM-Construction Services, Inc. The company delivers its services to clients across a wide range of attractive, growth-oriented end markets, including oil and gas, electric energy, state and federal, transportation, railway, water/wastewater, and other infrastructure-related industries. Competing in a diverse market traditionally served by regional and many small niche service providers, SAM, Inc. has evolved into one of the few national land surveying and mapping service providers with the breadth of service offerings, depth of staff, strategic locations, and financial capacity to effectively support all surveying and mapping-related activities for large-scale capital projects and ongoing maintenance requirements.
Voice switching products
Service Intelligence is the leader in Customer Experience Optimization solutions in North America. The company's extensive network of mystery shoppers and industry-leading, Internet-based platform enable them to deliver solutions that measure the brand performance, the effectiveness of marketing promotions and the quality of customer service experience.
SGN represents the next generation of social game development. SGN's proprietary and patent-pending technology process, MasterKey, allows a game to be built once and seamlessly distributed to all platforms, including: Facebook, iOS, Android, and Amazon. Through its three-prong strategy of social, mobile, and web games, SGN reaches players wherever they choose to play. SGN is responsible for more than twelve top ten titles on the iTunes App Store and three #1 titles on the Amazon App Store.
SigmaTrak has developed an integration appliance, the SigmaTrak Integration Router, that dramatically lowers the cost and complexity of trading partner on-boarding for supply chain collaboration.
Mixed signal ICs
EDA tools for modeling and analysis
Silverback Enterprise Group acquires and builds industry-leading software companies that provide mission-critical software products to enterprise customers. Silverback works with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to ensure the singular focus at every Silverback company is long-term customer success. Founded in 2010 by successful technology entrepreneurs and business operators, Silverback's leadership team has a proven acquisition track record, having completed 23 successful enterprise technology acquisitions in the past 10 years.
With a mission to reimagine the airport car rental experience, Silvercar launched its first operation at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in January 2013. Silvercar offers a single make-and-model combination - the 2013 Audi A4 (in silver, of course) - using Web, wireless and mobile technologies to eliminate the friction points in the car rental process. An ever-increasing set of custom settings in a traveler's Silvercar profile allows a personalized experience to follow renters from car to car.
Enterprise software for customer interaction systems
SolarWinds is a leading provider of Windows-based network management, network monitoring and network discovery software. More than 40,000 customers spanning the military, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and education institutions have chosen SolarWinds to reduce network downtime, manage network compliance and change and improve staff efficiency. SolarWinds has developed and brought to market award-winning solutions that address the needs of network engineers from performance management to fault monitoring to configuration management.


text:
The best doggy day carers near Queen's Park
As the UK's most popular doggy day carer service, we've helped well over 200,000 pet owners since we started Tailster. We've got plenty of doggy day carers in and around Queen's Park who can help you regardless of your requirements - whether its ongoing or repeat, for your small dogs or large dogs. As we know how difficult it is to find the perfect doggy day carer, we've made it easy at Tailster. Simply click find a carer and let us know your requirements - it takes less than 30 seconds to tell us what you require from a doggy day carer. All we need to know is your postcode, your dates and requirements and we will ping this out to all the suitable doggy day carers in Queen's Park and if they are available and want to help, you'll receive personalised quotes (often within the hour). You can see in the map below, all the doggy day carers in Queen's Park and can view their profiles and let us do that hard work for you!
Kelsea Shea
I am a 17 year old student currently studying an extended diploma in Health and Social Care. I have a passion for animals and i have a Border Collie o…
Samara's doggy care
I am a 26 year old university student studying for my MSc in Criminal Investigation and my husband is a police officer. We were hosts for the company …
Lizi's Animal Walking and Sitting
Life long dog lover and owner. Three border collies live with me as very happy, much loved members of my family, and if you can walk three border coll…
I provide professional dog care services in and around the Blackburn /Accrington areas. I aim to provide a reliable and friendly service for those who…
Beth's woodland retreat
I am due to start at Myerscough College in September to obtain a City & Guilds Level 3 qualification in Animal Management with the aim of carrying on …
Baxenden dog walks
I'm a dog walker and boarder in Baxenden. I have been to obedience classes and have worked on recall and off-lead training with my adopted dog. I have…
Doggy Trails and Tails
I am a dog walker covering North Bolton & surrounding areas. I'm experienced with dogs and can offer a flexible service to suit you, on either a casua…
Hi, I've been doing dog home boarding and doggy daycare for 4 years, I'm now starting to do walking for those who just want their dogs day being broke…
As a husky pack member, I'm not to be pulled around and can quickly swipe off the food. I normally don't bite off more than I can chew. I am looking f…
Steph's Dog Care
I'm an experienced dog sitter looking to provide walks, home visits, daycare or overnight stays. I have experience with different breeds and some mor…
There's no worse feeling than leaving your dog at home for the day, we really understand! Our doggy day carers love nothing more than caring for dogs in their own home and they'll make sure your dog is walked, fed and pampered too. Register today in a few simple steps, to get started with your pet care search in Queen's Park.
At tailster, we love pets! We've helped over 250,000 pet owners find the right person to walk their dog, groom their cat and even feed the fish! With our rigorous carer checks and free comprehensive insurance, we've got you covered from Alsatian to Zuchon! We provide full support, safe online payments, gps-tracked walks and even photo updates for added peace of mind.


text:
We're already at the quarter mark of the MLB season, which is hard to believe, really, but there are a number of individuals who are off to sensational starts. At this point several players have distinguished themselves and have separated themselves from the rest of the pack.
Here's a look at the leader for each of the three main awards for each league: Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and MVP.


text:
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA — Picking ski boots usually involves going to the local big-box sports store, stepping into a few boots off the rack to find the ones that don't hurt, and picking whichever boots look best with your skis.
Greg Whitehouse wants you to know you've been doing it all wrong. The proprietor of the California Ski Company has been fitting ski boots for 10 years. He's also invested in a new Fischer vacuum boot-fitting machine, a contraption that precisely measures your feet and vacuum-molds a pair of custom boots just for you. California Ski offers a comfort guarantee on the Fischer-fitted boots. Combined with Whitehouse's reputation as a ski-gear guru, the shop attracts skiers from as far away as Australia to come in for a fitting.
We paid a visit to mine Whitehouse's deep boot knowledge, and get a pair of Fischer Vacuum Boots fitted to one of our staff members — a procedure that's hopefully worth both the physical and monetary expense he endured. (See the sidebar below.)
Wired: When shopping for boots, what should a skier be looking for?
Greg Whitehouse: Find a shop that knows how to sell boots. Look for a decent selection and/or a boot-fitter that's excellent. You need to buy the right size, or it's just not going to work. If you went to a place where you could just pull the boots off the shelf and try them on and pick your own boot, almost everybody would pick a boot that's at least one size too long and probably at least one size too wide.
Wired: Is it because the correct boot size feels too tight?
Whitehouse: Exactly. Ski boots use a liner that's designed to compress and mold to your foot. Imagine you have two shells. They have the same spongy liner inside with the same thickness, but one is bigger and one is smaller. The one that's correct is going to feel too tight. The spongy material is going to compress, and when it compresses, the denser it gets. Think of a sponge — when it's not compressed at all, it's really spongy, and when it's halfway pushed down, it's pretty dense.
So you start out with a boot that feels great. You put it on and you say, "Oh my God, this feels great!" Ski it tomorrow, and it feels great. But the day after tomorrow, it feels a little loose. And the day after that, it feels really loose. And when you start buckling the boot to bring it to your foot, they don't shrink. A boot doesn't shrink. It doesn't even really wrap like a shoe. It really just compresses from the top down, so you have a situation where you have that liner and this boot feels comfortable. But the top of your foot has blood vessels and the arch underneath, and you'll just keep tightening it down so your foot doesn't move sideways. By the time you do that, you've shut down nerves and blood vessels.
Wired: So how long until the correct boot is broken in and "feels good?"
Whitehouse: Maybe you've gotta ski it five days, and that liner breaks in. Then it's good to go and will hold that shape for a long time.
Wired: What about when you rent boots?
Whitehouse: You see it more and more in rentals — "What's your shoe size?" They tell me 10, I'll give them a 28 boot, which is a size too big, being conservative because they're rentals. The customer will open it up, put their foot in, and without buckling it, they'll say, "Oh, I need the next size up." Then you have a choice to make, because there's a line of people waiting. You could do the right thing and say, "Listen, I know it feels a little short. You want to buckle it up. When you stand in the boot with a buckle, your heel is nowhere near the back, so your toes are jammed in the front." Depending on the day and the mood I'm in, I might just say, "Here's a 30, try that."
Wired: What about buying boots for kids?
Whitehouse: Parents have a tendency to buy their kid's boots too big. Boots only come in one-centimeter increments, which is much more than a shoe size. And for a kid, if you bought a boot that was two sizes too big, maybe it's an inch and a half too long. Relative to a kid's foot, that's a lot bigger deal than it would be on an adult foot. On more than one occasion, I've had a parent come in and I size the boot and I say, "This boot's too big. You've put your child in a situation where they're not going to be able to ski well, and it's going to be frustrating. I think you should put these away until they fit better."
Wired: What do you do when a person is determined to buy a boot that doesn't fit?
Whitehouse: Some people will come in and say, "Any boot, as long as it's powder blue."
We had a guy come in for a boot fit. It takes a good hour and a half — we evaluate the foot, how the foot works. We explain the process as we go along. We finally get this guy nailed down to this boot. The guy says, "Yeah, but I want it in that color (purple)." And the fitter says, "Well it doesn't come in that color." And he says "But I want that color."
I walk over and say, "Sir, if you want to buy that boot, I can name a few places where you can get it, but we offer a comfort guarantee." I'm sure he's out there in his purple boots and purple jacket. I hope he's happy.
Wired: Doesn't the industry cater to people wanting the best, even if they don't need it?
Whitehouse: People watch videos and they see what the pros use, be it boots, skis or anything else. They see the videos, and they come in and they want this product. And you know it's the wrong product from a technical standpoint. You go back and forth, finally telling them what you think, and your concerns, and you let them make their decision. People will buy the wrong ski, but it doesn't matter because they love it. They just love it. I tell the staff, what we have to do is keep in mind that what the customer wants is "smiles per hour." If they love it, they love it. I think the reason people come here is because they've tried that route, and they're looking for something that will really work.
All photos: Ariel Zambelich/WiredGo Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.


text:
Yemeni forces kill 7 alleged al-Qaida
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni forces killed seven alleged al-Qaida militants in the latest fighting as part of a major offensive waged by the military, the defense ministry said Saturday.
Government forces have stepped up attacks during the past two weeks against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, considered the most active branch of the group in the world. Washington has assisted the Yemeni authorities with logistics, training and drone attacks.
The seven were killed in clashes while forces were combing the southern cities of Shabwa and Abyan, where the fighting has been centered.
Also Saturday, Shabwa's governor, Ahmed Ali Bahag, said al-Qaida militants kidnapped five civilians from local tribes they were formerly allied with, in retaliation for cooperating with the Yemeni army.
The governor asked for the help of the Red Cross in finding the abducted citizens and in relieving the refugees who fled their homes in the southern city of Meyfaa, amid the ongoing clashes. He said authorities are now repairing infrastructure and buildings damaged in the fight.
On Friday, Yemeni defense minister Mohammed Nasser Ahmed escaped an assassination attempt as he was on his way to check up on forces in the southern city of Mahfad, a sprawling al-Qaida base recaptured by the army.
The army has started to establish fixed military posts and checkpoints in areas recaptured from the militants in Mahfad, Azzan and Meyfaa to prevent them from returning from neighboring mountainous regions to which they have fled.


text:
This post was originally published on September 22nd.
My 5 y/o daughter has been doing great in both languages. Both parents are native Spanish speakers so it hasn't been 'so' hard to keep her Spanish active: we only speak Spanish at home.
Last year, in PreK, she had Spanish class once a week and complained of getting bored during that class. Now in Kindergarten, she is dreading going to Spanish class even more. I spoke with the Spanish teacher and expressed my concern, but her response was that 95% of her class is monolingual (English) so she can't really do much for my daughter. I understand the teacher's situation, but I don't want my daughter to associate Spanish with an 'uncool' or boring experience. I will talk to the principal but feel I have to offer suggestions for other activities my daughter can do during Spanish class, or strategies to motivate her.
I need your help ¡por favor! Any suggestions?
Hola/Hi Andrea ~
These challenges of getting bored during class occur often with children, and as a classroom teacher I hope my suggestions and real-life experiences will provide you, your daughter's teacher and your daughter with some fun and practical solutions. Five is such a fun year, full of exploring and learning and sharing! The ideas below will take into account various learning styles:
1. Ask your daughter's teacher to allow your daughter to be a co-teacher on a particular finger play, song or activity that she is doing each class. The communication for the co-teaching can take place via e-mail between you and the teacher so that excuses of missed phone calls do not interrupt accomplishing this goal. Allowing your daughter to become part of the teaching will make her cool to the other kids, boost her self-esteem while speaking her native language, and allow the other children to learn right along with a peer. Stress that you are asking for only one song or one activity – not for your daughter to co-teach the entire time!
2. Encourage the use of music during the Spanish teacher's class without telling her what or how to teach. At this age of 5 (and through the early elementary school years) children love learning with music, and the retention of concepts introduced through music is for the long term. Perhaps even pull some things off the internet prior to speaking with her that incorporate teaching math with music and both languages or weather with a song in Spanish. Kindergarten students LOVE learning with music, and your daughter will find herself more engaged with movement as part of a class where before she had been bored.
3. Offer to volunteer in your daughter's Spanish class once a month (or if you are unable, your husband or friend who speaks Spanish could volunteer). The goal here is to incorporate other styles of introducing Spanish as a second language – be it a new visual approach with an engaging bilingual big book, a cool puppet show with two of you introducing Spanish through the characters, or even a finger play that you grew up enjoying with your Spanish-speaking family. When parents offer to volunteer to help in a class where their child is challenged with a situation it shows the teacher and your child that you have a vested interest in making things terrific.
On a side note, I would suggest not going to the Principal of the school until you have approached the teacher with a willingness to help. Make certain you express your need for help from her to maintain your daughter's love of her native language (which could easily be diminished should she continue dreading going to Spanish class). Again, it's all about the way in which you approach the teacher. Try to keep her on the offensive by asking her for help and offering the above suggestions in a non-threatening manner.
Parents and teachers working together can do wonderful things for the future of our children and our world!
Happy Educating! ¡Sea feliz educando!


text:
Stephen Curry ended his season averaging 26.4/6.4/8.1 in April and he catapulted to many pre-season top 10 lists (not this one). Halfway through this season – and coming off two lackluster, foul-plagued games – Curry is averaging 18.2/3.4/5.9, has missed eight games due to foot injuries, and it feels like Curry's a … not a bust, exactly, but a bit of a disappointment. It's all dependent upon how you see it. Is a zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes? Either Curry's Curry or he's less-than-Curry. Either I'm making a straw man argument or I'm arguing with the shrewdness of my attorney Alan Strawman. Ultimately, Curry is averaging remarkably similar numbers so far this year as he did in total last season (averaging exactly .462 FG% both seasons, exactly 5.9 assists and 1.9 steals both seasons and within 1 stat point in every other fantasy category, often within just 0.5 stat points). He's doing this, by the way playing three fewer minutes per game. For you Steph Scholars out there, you'll remember too that Curry spent the first three months of his rookie season bumming around, gettin' right, doin' what it do. Then in January he went warp speed. All this is getting around to me telling you not to freak out or even feel upset. He's not top 10 material yet, but there's reason to believe it's coming and soon. I'm expecting a moderately large uptick in Curry's production any day now. Might not be today. Might not be tomorrow, but it's coming and y'all better be strapped in when it happens.
Here's what else went down in a massive MLK hoops-a-palooza:
Sasha Vujacic – Scored 16 points in 27 minutes yesterday. He offers little else besides threes, FT% and the occasional steal, but in deep leagues, you could do much worse. Mime college would be an example of you doing much worse.
Rudy Gay – Rudy-Tootie-Fresh'n'Fruity wet stale against Chicago's No.1-ranked NBA defense yesterday as he shot 1-for-10 from the floor and scored single-digit points for just the second game this season.
Derrick Rose – Aced his first career triple-double (22/10/12). He's also averaging more blocks per game than Boozer. Jrue story.
Kyle Korver – Six threes. 22 points in just under 26 minutes. That's nice, but not nice enough for me to roster him.
Taj Gibson – Played 43 minutes and blocked a career-high six shots. Only scoring 10 points on 11 shots is a little problematic, but with both Noah and Boozer out, he almost has to be a productive short-term pickup.
C.J. Miles – He scored eight points on 3-for-10 shooting after averaging 20 ppg in his previous three, 7.2 ppg in the five before that, 19 ppg in the two before that and so-on. You'll drop him today, he'll drop 21 on you tomorrow, you'll pick him up and dance this dance until April. The C.J. stands for "can't justify."
Nick Young – 38 mpg/.464/.904/2.5 3pt/21 pts/3 rbd/2 ast. This is what you were hoping to get when you drafted Ben Gordon or O.J. Mayo or Rip Hamilton. It didn't happen, instead you've been getting this from D.C.'sN.Y. in the 15 games since being positioned as a starter. You'll eat it up and politely ask for seconds.
Vince Carter – Scored a season-high 29 points in his first double-double of the season. He also sank five threes, has hit at least one trey in every game he's played with the Suns and is averaging a career-high 2.3 3ptm a game. I'm convinced he's doing this because I said just after he was traded that he'd hurt Steve Nash's assist totals by driving rather than shooting. I hate you, Vince Carter.
Channing Frye – 18/2/3 with 2 threes. Yeah. This counts as a Good Channing Frye Game. Enjoy it while it lasts. Alvin Gentry will eventually bench him for five games, he'll suck, Gentry will realize he has to put him back in the starting lineup, where he'll seem rejuvenated for five games and then start sucking again. It's as annoyingly repetitive as a beatboxing stutterer.
Raymond Felton – 3-for-13 yesterday, sinking his FG% this month to .365. He shot .474 in November, then .415 last month. .415 is closer to his career-average, and he's declined from November to January then improved every month after that over the course of his career, so although you don't have to love what's happening there, perhaps you should hol your whining for at least another month.
Danilo Gallinari – Returned to drop 17 quiet points. Coo-coo ca choo! <– I know that's not the sound a rooster makes, but it's a helluva lot closer to a rooster than whatever the sound a damn walrus makes.
Francisco Garcia – Sat out Monday with a surprise sore calf. The Kings weren't really willing to discuss this much. Also unwilling to discuss their sore and surprised calves? Hillbilly farmers.
Al Horford – 23/9/6 with a career-high seven blocks. He's the Brook Lopez you wish you had instead of Broke Lopez.
Jarrett Jack – Played 27 minutes and ended with a 17/2/3 line. Okay, Jarrett. We see you. We see you. Now settle down.
Julien Wright – Started for the first time this season and ended with 11/6 in 28 minutes. This was among his best games this season, which means I wouldn't roster him with YOUR team.
Amir Johnson – 17/8 with a trio of steals and a pair of blocks. That's more Abig Johnson than Amir Johnson.
Ed Davis – 11/12. He seems to get a double-double about once every 20 days. I'll see you on February 8.
Jose Calderon – 0-for-5, 0/5/13, 7 tovs, nothin' else in 39 minutes. Whoa. That line reminds me of … of …
Jason Kidd – 0-for-7, 0/1/13, 3 tov, nothin' else in 36 minutes. Screw you, Calderon. No one out-Kidds a Kidd!
DeShawn Stevenson – Back to the bench with you!
Gerald Wallace – Arguably, Crash and Andre Iguodala were the two biggest stars coming into this overtime game. They played a combined 82 minutes and only shot the ball a total of 17 times. Meanwhile, Boris Diaw weighs as much as the two of them combined and triple-doubled. We live in a crazy world, man.
Kwame Brown – 15/16 in 42 minutes. It was his second straight double-double and I'd allow you to paint me green and call me Gumby if that streak reaches four games. Just as I couldn't believe I was recommending owners pick up Mike Conley in early November, DeShawn Stevenson in December and Brown now, I look forward to March when I send everyone clamoring for Eddy Curry.
Ryan Anderson – 16/8 with four threes and two blocks. He's, like, the perfect fantasy reserve.
Kevin Garnett – Returned after a nine-game absence and ended with a 19/8/2 in 31 minutes. There wasn't even any rust in his scowl.
Darko Milicic – 22/8 with four blocks. Waited until his 34th minute to draw that magical fifth foul.
Marcus Camby – Left with a knee injury less than eight minutes into the game and didn't return. But if you watched the Portland broadcast, you couldn't help but be reminded of that every 15 seconds as Barrett and Rice mentioned Camby's absence two dozens times with the desperation of guys still not over the only hot girlfriend they'll ever had dumping them. LaMarcus Aldridge dropped 37/12 without Camby. Yes. This will happen as long as M.C. is hammered.
Corey Maggette – Today was Maggette-O's game to take over. Tomorrow I'm guessing it'll be Ilyasova. The Bucks offense attacks like a pack of velociraptors: you may have your eye on one, but it'll be one of the one's you don't see that guts you from behind!
Aaron Brooks – It's odd how little I'm hearing about one of the 60 best players in the league neither starting much nor playing well. at any rate, bench him until he compels you not to.
Roy Hibbert – Speaking of top 60 players neither playing much nor playing well: Roy Hibbert, ladies and gentleman, who looks like a 7-foot-tall neurotic Woody Allen on the court these days. Might as well send him out there with glasses and black dress socks.
Darren Collison – Speaking of top 60 players not playing well … DarCo is the opposite of that. 30/1/8 yesterday and averaging +5.9 ppg and +2.6 asts this month as compared to last month.
Blake Griffin – NBA season-high 47 points. But you already knew that. What you might have overlooked is that dude sank 9-of-11 free throws. That's his weakness. Free throws. He shot .580 from the line in November. He's shooting .701 in January. July Adam has a pencil and his top 20 rankings. We all know what he's up to.


text:
Augusta National Golf Club has admitted its first female members, the private club announced Monday.
The decision to admit former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and business executive Darla Moore of Lake City, South Carolina, ends a longstanding policy excluding women as members of the exclusive Georgia club, which hosts the Masters.
Augusta's membership, which includes titans of industry and finance, has been male-only since its opening in 1932. The policy, which had become a lightning rod issue, had been upheld as recent as April when Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, said the issue was a private matter.
Monday's announcement comes as a stark about-face in the club's policy.
"This is a joyous occasion as we enthusiastically welcome Secretary Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore as members of Augusta National Golf Club," Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament, said in a statement. "We are fortunate to consider many qualified candidates for membership at Augusta National. Consideration with regard to any candidate is deliberate, held in strict confidence and always takes place over an extended period of time. The process for Condoleezza and Darla was no different."
Rice served under President George W. Bush as the first female national security adviser and the first African-American woman to hold the post of secretary of state. She also served on President George H.W. Bush's National Security Council staff and was a special assistant to the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1986.
"I have long admired the important role Augusta National has played in the traditions and history of golf," Rice said in a statement. "I also have an immense respect for the Masters tournament and its commitment to grow the game of golf, particularly with youth, here in the United States and throughout the world."
Moore is the vice president of Rainwater Inc., the investment firm founded by her husband, Richard Rainwater. Fortune magazine once named her among the top 50 women in business, and the University of South Carolina's business school is named in her honor.
"I am honored to have accepted an invitation to join Augusta National Golf Club. Augusta National has always captured my imagination, and is one of the most magically beautiful places anywhere in the world, as everyone gets to see during the Masters each April," Moore said in a statement. "I am fortunate to have many friends who are members at Augusta National, so to be asked to join them as a member represents a very happy and important occasion in my life. Above all, Augusta National and the Masters Tournament have always stood for excellence, and that is what is so important to me. I am extremely grateful for this privilege."
Payne noted the significance of admitting the first women to the club.
"These accomplished women share our passion for the game of golf and both are well known and respected by our membership. It will be a proud moment when we present Condoleezza and Darla their Green Jackets when the Club opens this fall," he said. "This is a significant and positive time in our Club's history and, on behalf of our membership, I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome them and all of our new members into the Augusta National family."
Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, tweeted his congratulations to Rice.
Congrats to my friend @CondoleezzaRice for joining Augusta National & congrats to Augusta National for admitting its first female members—
Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 20, 2012
Reaction from the public has been swift online following the announcement, with some people complimenting the club and others remarking about how long it had taken them to reach this milestone.
This just highlights our institutionalized prejudices. #Augusta should we be thankful that you just now woke up?—
(@sommanita) August 20, 2012
One person took an irreverent look at the news, comparing it with the Olympics, which saw two women, modestly dressed and veiled, walked proudly alongside the flag of their nation, Saudi Arabia, into London's Olympic stadium at the Games' spectacular opening ceremony.
Not to be outdone by the Saudi Olympic team, Augusta National has just admitted their first female members #golfclap—
Jason Stern (@IbnLarry) August 20, 2012
The longstanding issue was again in the spotlight this past April because of IBM's sponsorship of the Masters. The tournament guarantees club membership for its officers, but IBM's top executive was a woman. At the time, Payne defended the policy as a private matter.
"Well, as has been the case, whenever that question is asked, all issues of membership are now and have historically been subject to the private deliberation of members," Payne said at the time. "That statement remains accurate; it remains my statement."
Bubba Watson, the 33-year-old southpaw who defeated Louis Oosthuizen to capture the famed green jacket at this year's Masters, teed off on the topic during an interview with Piers Morgan earlier this year.
"This day and age, I think that, I don't see any reason why (admitting women) could hurt," Watson said.
Most Augusta patrons seem untroubled by male-only membership policy
Women's rights activist Martha Burk tried to change the exclusionary policy nine years ago when she showed up at the Augusta entrance to lead a series of protests against men-only membership. Her efforts were in vain.
When Burk tried to change things in 2002, Augusta's then-chairman, Hootie Johnson, resisted, saying that gender integration would not come "at the point of a bayonet."
In 2006, Burk was among a group of Exxon shareholders who accused the company of violating its discrimination policies by supporting the tournament.
The announcement on Monday sent social media into a frenzy, with Augusta National dominating the conversation. Here's a look at some of the reaction:
Congrats to @CondoleezzaRice and Darla Moore on becoming Augusta national members. Such an honor/achievement. #GrowGolf #history #inspiring—
Anna Rawson (@TheAnnaRawson) August 20, 2012
Smart move by Augusta National to name two female members. Takes the pressure/focus off a single woman as being "the first."—
Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelGC) August 20, 2012
Its about time Augusta National let's women in! Its about thirty years too late though!—
Jay Boltey (@JBoltey1) August 20, 2012
Augusta National announces addition of first female members, now considering ordering calendars where the year starts with a "2".—
Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) August 20, 2012
And a cheer goes up over the news that women can join at Augusta National. http://t.co/hJRvIyZ5—
Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) August 20, 2012
Augusta National admits two female members... Thought I'd never live to see the day—
Luke Christy (@LukeChristy) August 20, 2012
More on Augusta:
Augusta National a powerful holdout among men-only clubs
Golf.com: Augusta National needs women for good of the game
Romney: Women should be allowed to join Augusta
White House: Augusta National should admit women
Let women into Augusta golf club
I posted earlier & think this is a positive step for the Augusta Golf club! But I also agree w/those who think separate venues for men & women is OK! Even at coed parties, men & women often separate & gather in groups to talk! Women- in the kitchen or bedroom,kids, jobs, personal issues, Men! Men-in the living room , in front of TV or on patio,jobs, sports, special interests, Women! We do this naturally like it's in our genes! That's OK ,too! That's why this doesn't really matter to the Average American Woman! We know sometimes we have to vent to our own gender! It is cool that Condi Rice was accepted as a Woman, not as an African-American! She has broken several barriors in 1 fell swoop! Congrats To Condi! This is from a person w/"severe" apathy for golf! Thanks, have a good wk!
Can't we just leave somethings alone. Men are so outcast in today's world it is all about women. Us whiney get my own way women. Just let men get back to what they are intented to be MEN!!!! Why does everyone have to do everything everyone else does. Women Stop this or you will be changing your own tire and cutting your grass and planting the garden. I like to do all of the above but. and the end of the day. Either pay to have that service done for you or let the men do it. The ones that want to do it let them stop taking everything away from men!!!!!! Or You will all be married to women. And I like women BUT at the end of the day I want my man to rub my back. We don't have to have everything. Stop being a leader someimes and shut up and follow for a few minutes. Believe me you will get so much further in life when you stop taking and start giving back for a few minutes. And I don't car what comments come back you can always repley to me I will be upfront and honest. I am ok with just the way I am. I raise leaders in my family and not followers but my children unerstand give and take in the world. Shame on you for doing this . I say NO WOMEN IN AUGUSTA!!!! Shame on you for not standing your ground.
White men have it so bad.
I just wonder. I make 50K per year and can pay $100 a month. Can I join? I didn't think so. I'm going to cry.
Gee, we are supposed to celebrate because the other half of the human race (those with their reproductive organs on the inside) are now being welcomed – cant imagine wanting to be a part of that company of fools – gee, we are no longer a threat to the males.....


text:
If you sit in the sleek 46-seat dining room at peak times, good luck talking. Even outside the noise level can get high, what with lots of children, large celebratory parties and a full liquor license featuring inventive Italian-inspired cocktails.
If you are most interested in romance, conversation and wonderful service, mid-afternoon is the ticket. It offers the same menu from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Pizzeria Delfina comes to us from Annie and Craig Stoll, who founded the restaurant Delfina 15 years ago in the newly hip Mission District of San Francisco. They added two Neapolitan-style pizzerias in San Francisco and one in downtown Burlingame before reaching out to Palo Alto. Refreshingly, they treat Palo Alto like a special friend rather than a suburban dolt. It is the only member of the Delfina Restaurant Group with a full bar and the only one with a spacious patio.
Everybody gets thin, perfect bread sticks and a little plate with grated Parmesan, red chile flakes and dried oregano to chew on while perusing the menu. Feel free to ask about all those pesky Italian words.
Delfina's Neapolitan 10-inch pizza crusts have swirly ridges on the bottom, like the Indian flatbread, naan, and puffy edges. The crusts aren't too thick or too thin.
As for toppings, the classic margherita ($13) sings with a simple tomato sauce. For me, it could use a few more leaves of basil. Know that you need to eat it right away, or the slabs of mozzarella gum up. Same with the 4 formaggi ($14.50).
Eight regular pizzas range from the Napoletana ($11.75) to the prosciutto pie ($17). There are two daily specials, great choices for vegetarians, and a variety of add-ons from anchovies ($3) to prosciutto ($6).
Pizzas are good, but Delfina's uniqueness comes with its creative use of market vegetables and its salads, thoughtfully composed but not fussy. Try the tuna conserva salad ($10), with fat and creamy butter beans, crisp watercress and meaty house-cured tuna.
In the same vein, the Monterey Bay calamari and ceci salad ($10) is dominated by garbanzo beans (ceci), but the squid's flat body and squiggly tentacles are tender, served on arugula with amazingly good half-inch cubes of just softened zucchini.
"Today's market vegetables" could be tempura-fried fava or green beans ($7) to demolish immediately with well-balanced aioli.
A handful of non-pizza entrees include the beloved chicken alla diavola ($16.75) and meatballs in sugo ($14.75). One day they featured a foot-long curl of narrow fennel sausage, mild but flavorful with sweet-and-sour onions and olive oil, baked in a gratin dish. One oily crostino didn't add value.
Attention to detail is evident in other areas. An order of iced tea ($3) gets you a carafe with a disc of lemon, a glass with a lemon slice and fresh Ceylon black tea. Food-friendly wines by the glass start at $8. On a busy evening, pacing was problematic. Green beans came before wine, and were followed too closely by salad and pizza. The hot dishes are better hot.
The gelato-based dessert menu features six flavors "made right here," which means they do run out. We wanted brown butter and mint stracciatella, but cleansed our palates with chocolate and vanilla (two scoops, $5).
The front room is long and narrow, lined by blond wood tables and a full-length, sky-blue banquette on the window side with cooks and a dining counter on the other side. Exposed beams give the room a more open feel, bright where the previous restaurant in this location, the Empire Tap Room, was dark.
Toward the end of the Tap Room's 21-year-run, the patio was its main draw. Culinary archaeologists will remember that the "secret garden" also was the best thing about Le Meursault, a crepe-focused restaurant. Lesson to Palo Alto: Treasure your restaurant patios.
Pizzeria Delfina
651 Emerson St., Palo Alto
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
Reservations: No, except for groups of 10 or more with fixed menu
Credit cards: yes
Parking: street and city lots
Alcohol: full bar
Children: yes
Outdoor dining: yes
Party and banquet facilities: no
Noise level: high
Bathroom cleanliness: excellent
This story contains 754 words.
Stories older than 90 days are available only to subscribing members. Please help sustain quality local journalism by becoming a subscribing member today.
If you are already a subscriber, please log in so you can continue to enjoy unlimited access to stories and archives. Subscriptions start at $5 per month and may be cancelled at any time.


text:
Filed under: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, Military Industrial Complex, nation building, obama, obama deception, obama surge, occupation, Pakistan, Pentagon, Senate, surge, Troops
Hillary: We'll Be In Afghanistan for 50 or 60 Years
Washington's Blog
December 24, 2009
On December 1st, President Obama talked about withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan within 18 months.
Everyone now knows that there is no firm withdrawal date from Afghanistan. See this and this.
But in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on December 2nd, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton actually gave a much longer horizon for the presence of U.S. troops in America:
- Senator UDALL.— So, in an ideal world, we would get the job done militarily in the short term; in the medium and long term, we would have a presence in the region, economically, diplomacy, and politically.
Secretary CLINTON. Well, as we have with so many other countries— obviously, we have troops in a limited number of countries around the world; some have been there for 50, 60 years, but we have long-term economic assistance and development programs in many others. And we think that's a likely outcome in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, that we would be there with a long-term commitment.
Does this mean that U.S. troops will be in Afghanistan in 50 year?
On the surface, Clinton's statement could be interpreted to mean that troops will leave sooner, but that America will have long-term economic assistance and development programs in Afghanistan for many decades to come.
However, U.S. charities working in Afghanistan report that they are subject to Pentagon sponsorship and control, and so the Afghani people view them as part of the U.S. military (which hampers their aid work).
Therefore, whether or not troops will remain in Afghanistan for a half century or more, the Afghani people and the rest of the world may consider it a permanent occupation.
Remember also that – while the U.S. government has promised to withdraw by December 31, 2011 from Iraq – the U.S. is building numerous permanent military bases in that country. (see this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this). So talk is cheap.
Leave a Comment so far
Leave a comment


text:
Crockery requirements follow the event menu. Deciding what you will be serving will indicate whether you need side plates, starter plates, dinner plates and dessert plates/bowls, so this is the best way to approach your crockery needs. The number of cups and saucers may be somewhat less than the other items, as not all guests will have tea or coffee. Other items, such as milk jugs and sugar bowls, are shared either on the tables or at the buffet station. Cutlery requirements follow in line with the crockery, and again it is best to visualise what is needed for each part of the meal serving.
There are different qualities and styles of both crockery and cutlery for hire. For "ordinary" guests, one need not look further than the standard crockery and cutlery available at budget prices. The replacement cost, in the event of shortages or damages, is sometimes also a consideration here.
Should your budget permit and your guests appreciate something better, more up-market crockery and cutlery may be suitable. We recommend plain white, round crockery, which is always acceptable, despite not often being noticed and that superior cutlery only be ordered if the meal is to be plated rather than collected at a buffet station.
Take your pick from our range of tableware and catering crockery. Our selection ranges from elegant to functional and will provide the solution to all your tableware needs. From fine dining to everyday crockery, we've got the perfect crockery to complement your function.
Plate - White Porcelain Classic 26cm Round Dinner PlateWhite Porcelain Classic 26cm Round Dinner PlateDay: R0.00
Plate - White Porcelain Crosby 25cm Round Dinner PlateWhite Porcelain Crosby 25cm Round Dinner PlateDay: R0.00
Main Plate White CeramicWhite Ceramic Round Dinner PlateDay: R0.00


text: Politico has the story here. Does this data point suggest that Bernie is within striking distance of Hillary? I don't think so. The straw poll was taken among delegates to the WI Dem Party convention in a year when there was a grand surge of progressive and rural progressive delegates who were either making damn sure more »


text:
Still not connected?Sign Up
Thank You!
Your Response has been received successfully.
We will get back to you shortly.
There seems to be some problem sending the request.
Please try again later.
Redirecting you...
Pynngop chronicles the tragic journey of Kongdeng, a village girl who is lured into a web of deceit under the false pretext of a better life in the city.
Sorry! None of the critics have had a chance to review this movie yet.


text:
Sens. Collins, King tour Maine shipyards ahead of major military cuts
Maine could face $41 million in Pentagon civilian cuts
Maine stands to lose tens of millions of dollars within the next week from the defense department.
The Pentagon said Maine will lost about $41 million in payroll cuts because of automatic government spending cuts that start on March 1.
If a budget deal can't be reached, the workweek may be shortened for 800,000 civilian workers across the country.
It could also mean the loss of hundreds of jobs at Bath Iron Works as well as the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King are scrambling in the wake of those looming cuts.
With Congress embroiled in a budget battle in Washington, the senators met with workers at both shipyards Thursday.
King said it's necessary because the situation is so dire.
King and Collins are urging the president and Congress to act and stop the uncertainty that's plaguing the future employment of 5,000 people who work at Bath Iron Works.
King called the budget impasse shameful.
"The most significant threat to the national security of the United States today is the budgetary chaos in Washington," said King.
Currently, BIW has five ships under contract and construction. But, the concern said Collins is the future deals to build 10 more ships over the next 10 years.
The Pentagon said Maine could be facing $41 million in defense department civilian payroll cuts if automatic government spending cuts kick in on the March 1 deadline.
"Both of them could have devastating impacts on our national security and harm this shipyard as well as the PNS in Kittery. Angus and I are determined to do everything that we can to prevent them from happening," said Collins.
If the cuts become reality, several hundred technical workers would be immediately affected and could lose their jobs within the next six to nine months.
"If things aren't corrected and I end up with hundreds of my members on the street," said Dan Dowling, president of Local S6 Union 20.
Another union president representing engineers, designers and other technical workers said many are already making sacrifices.
"Some of our members are already being asked to take a day off, no pay and a lot of members are calling our union office on a daily basis because they're concerned about their families and rightly so, and concerned about what's coming next," said Beverly Harris.


text:
For years, I used to pride myself on being able to talk to pretty much anyone on a variety of topics and having a reasonably lively conversation. I've always loved conversing – I get that from both my parents. However, over the past few years, I have noticed a bothersome trend: a growing number of acquaintances (not friends/family) with whom I seem to only have one topic conversations. Presently, I have a restaurant-review acquaintance, a small-child-of-similar-age-in-common acquaintance, an NFL-talk acquaintance, a Mexico vacation acquaintance and a PGA Tour golf acquaintance, to name a few. If we aren't discussing THE topic, then we are simply saying hi and going on with our day (or in some cases, making fairly painful small talk about another topic neither of us care much about).
So my question is this: is this one topic problem a sign of my dwindling social skills, a product of my environment, me maturing and realizing I don't need to engage everyone all the time – or is this just the realization that adult socializing is way more awkward as an adult (sans Pabst of course) than I thought it would be when I was younger?


text:
Special Events
Bequia Tourism: Bequia Easter Regatta
Organized by the Bequia Sailing Club this is Bequia's biggest yearly event. Dates change according to the date of Easter. This year, in 2006, it covers April 13 through 17. Next year, 2007, it will be from April 5 through 9. Hotels fill up some time in advance so best make a booking now. For more information on the regatta check www.begos.com/easterregatta
New Year's Eve , or Old Year's Night as it is called by Bequians (just as sensibly), has become a major celebration with hundreds of yachts taking advantage of the spacious anchorage of Admiralty Bay. Advance dinner bookings at restaurants and hotels are advised and may require a deposit to confirm. In 2005/6 the harbour was lit up at midnight for a spectacular 15 minute display of fireworks arranged by former Prime Minister Sir James Mitchell, with the help of Marie Kingston, Noel Mawer and his Bang Gang and the support of the Sand Pit company and many Bequia businesses. For 2006/7 the fireworks will happen twice, once as an appetizer at 8.00 pm celebrating the new year in Europe and once again, local time, at midnight. So its two for one! and a good time for all.
Bequia Music Fest.
In late January the island throbs for four days to an eclectic mix of sound ranging from folk to country to jazz. In 2009 a steel band will start if off on Thursday, the 22nd January, then on the 23rd Dana Gillespie and friends from Bequia inc. take a Bequia break from the Mustique Blues Festival to perform at Lower Bay. Bequia's own Country Relatives and more regional and local performers follow up on Saturday with the finale from noon onwards on Sunday. Accommodation at this time should be arranged well in advance.


text:
We don't pretend to rival Martha — after all, on certain days, our culinary ambitions end at Easy Mac (hey, it's called "easy" for a reason!). Still, we love setting up a gorgeous dinner party. And when it comes to creating tabletop magic, much like composing a perfect outfit — topped off with a feathery set of falsies or impeccably lacquered nails — the magic is in the details. So, never mind that your dining chairs are hand-me-downs and the meal is a 3-course tribute to Trader Joe, because with the right decor accessories, you can take your dinner from decent to divine.
We've gathered up the gorgeous glasses, darling vintage accents, and pretty place settings that'll steal the show, whether you're serving rack of lamb or frozen ravioli. Ready to become the hostess with the mostest? Click through to discover our picks for must-have table trimmings, then just add friends, food, and wine. Bon appétit!


text:
Your cart is currently empty.
Your cart is currently empty.
Nano Market (George Region) has decided to shift its efforts to the mother city, Cape Town due to logistical requirements. As such, we decided to pause our operations in George for the time being.
Below are links to local suppliers that can continue to supply you:
www.farmfreshdirect.co.za www.redbarn.co.za www.elvisbrew.co.za #supportlocal
We hope you visit Cape Town soon!


text:
Czech director Jiri Menzel's Closely Watched Trains (Ostre sledovane vlaky) was the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1967. Based on Bohumil Hrabal's novel of the same name, it tells the end of innocence for a railroad worker who is not very bright and has not much of a career plan either. In the days of Nazi occupation for a Czech of course all such notions are not worth a straw.
Milos, the young apprentice railroader (Vaclav Neckar) comes from a line of failures. His grandfather, a hypnotist, was crushed to death while trying to hypnotize the German army into retreating, and his father retired at the age of 46 and sleeps on the sofa all day. Milos happily takes the trainman's job, since all he will have to do is stand on the platform and kill time. Just the same he is keenly conscious of his failure in scoring with girls. In such chaotic times of a city under occupation for the young Milos things aren't as bad as not losing his virginity.
This is a movie about innocence in such dismal times. Young Milos sees various sort of characters as they go about: for example there is a train dispatcher, who delights in rubber stamping his female conquests; and a sweet young conductress (Jitka Bendova) with whom Milos unsuccessfully tries to make out. Fearing he isn't adequate as a man, he tries to commit suicide. In that department also he turns out to be a failure. Then a friendly doctor (played by Jiri Menzel, the director) suggests that the unhappy youth distract himself while making love (say, think of a soccer game) or find a more experienced woman. When the stationmaster refuses to volunteer his wife, young trainee Milos bravely seeks other candidates and finally succeeds with a resistance fighter named Victoria.
He at last breaks the jinx of failure through love. Relieved and happy to discover that he is indeed a man, the youth sets out to blow up a Nazi ammunition train and
succeeds. In the end he is a hero.
'Ordered by the Czech Communist government to return his Oscar, Menzel refused, opting instead to make a "repentance" film which sang the praises of collectivism. This second film has long since been forgotten, while Closely Watched Trains remains on record as one of the biggest financial successes of the Eastern European Cinema'. (Quoted from Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.)
* Vaclav Neckar – Milos, a railroad worker
* Jitka Bendova – Conductor Masa
* Vladimir Valenta – Station Master Max
* Libuse Havelkova – Max's wife
* Josef Somr – Hubicka, a dispatcher
Alois Vachek – Novak; Jitka Zelenohorska – Zdenka; Vlastimil Brodský – Counselor Zednicek; Jirí Menzel – Dr. Brabec; Marie Jezkova; Kveta Fialova – Countess; Ferdinand Kruta – Max's uncle Noneman; Nada Urbankova – Victoria Freie
Oldrich Bosak – Art Director; Olga Dimitrov – Costume Designer; Jirí Menzel – Director; Jirí Menzel – Screenwriter; Jaromir Sofr – Cinematographer; Jiri Sust – Composer (Music Score); Ruzena Bulickova – Costume Designer; Jiri Cvrcek – Set Designer; M.A. Gebert – Editor; Bohumil Hrabal – Screenwriter; Bohumil Hrabal – Book Author; Jirina Lukesova – Editor; Zdenek Oves – Producer
Similar Movies
Europa, Europa; A Generation; Skrivánci na niti; Ivanovo Detstvo; Eroica; Black Peter; Tak Nachinalas Legenda; Dark Blue World; Do You Remember Dolly Bell?; Mon Oncle Antoine
* Run Time: 89 minutes
The film won several international awards:
* The 1967 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
* The 1969 BAFTA Awards for Best Film and Best Soundtrack
* The Grand Prize at the 1966 Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival
* A nomination for the 1969 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
* A nomination for the 1968 Golden Globe for Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film
( ack:wikipedia,answers.com,Allmovie Guide)


text:
A carat
is a unit of measurement, it's the unit used to weigh a diamond. One
carat is equal to 200 milligrams, or 0.2 grams.
The word "carat" is taken
from the carob seeds that people once used in ancient times to
balance scales. So uniform in shape and weight are these little
seeds that even today's sophisticated instruments cannot detect more
than three one-thousandths of a difference between them.
[NOTE: Don't confuse
"carat weight" with "karat," the method of determining the purity of
The process that forms a
diamond happens only in very rare circumstances, and typically the
natural materials required are found only in small amounts. That
means that larger diamonds are uncovered less often than smaller
ones. Thus, large diamonds are rare and have a greater value per
carat. For that reason, the price of a diamond rises exponentionaly
to its size.
Size Diamond Should I Buy?
First, determine your
budget. One general rule of thumb when buying a diamond engagement
ring is "two months salary." This is just a guideline, it's not
carved in stone and your first consideration should be what you can
comfortably afford -- not what the diamond industry or a jeweler
tells you (they are not unbiased in this matter).
Deciding on carat size is
really about striking a balance between size and quality. If she
prefers larger jewelry items, and you are working within a budget,
you can still find a larger diamond of excellent quality gem by
selecting one which is graded slightly lower in terms of color and
Remember that slender
fingers make small diamonds look bigger. If she has small fingers, a
1-carat diamond will look proportionately large -- and an even
larger stone may appear stunningly big!
Think about what sort of
setting will hold the diamond. You'll have to be sure that the
setting you choose is made to fit the carat weight of your
more about the Four Cs of
Brilliant Jewelry, INC 23014 Sandalfoot Plaza Dr Boca Raton, FL 33428
© 2007-2012 by Brilliant Jewelry. All Rights Reserved.


text:
**Please review our national VC & Angel Investor event Schedule Here.**
Los Angeles VC & Angel EventMonday, November 4, 2019
Sponsored by McCarter & English, mowMedia, Nolcha, Safeguard Global, Hio Social, SlashShout, TCVN, Pismo Ventures
Interested in meeting and pitching to early-stage Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists in Southern California? Register for the FundingPost event on Monday, November 4th, 2019.
FundingPost has hosted 400 sold-out venture events in 22 cities over the past 18 years.
At our next event, the panel of Investors will focus on Early-Stage Venture Investing: How to meet investors, pitch them, and what it really takes to get them to write you a check! We will be discussing trends in Early-Stage Investing, hot sectors, sectors that these Angels and VCs look at, things that are most important to them when they are considering an Investment, the best and worst things an entrepreneur can do to get their attention, additional advice for entrepreneurs, and, of course, the best ways to reach these and other Investors. There will be plenty of time for networking with the Investor panelists, both before the panel and after the panel at the Cocktail Party!
Interested in pitching? 15 will be selected for a 60-second fast pitch to the panel of Investors. The Investors will vote and the winner will get meetings with the Investors. We will have a sign up sheet at the registration table.
Exhibitor passes include:
- 3 tickets
- Table top to display product / service
- 4-minute speaking slot at the end of the normal 60- second pitches.
Register today, because this event will sell out and seating is limited!
Location: Expert DOJO, Unit 308, 395 Santa Monica Place
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Date: Monday, November 4, 2019
Time: 5:00pm-8:30pm
- Entrepreneur: $95
- Investor / Service Provider: $105
- Exhibitor + Workshop: $400
Moderator: Joe Daniels, McCarter & English
Maria Malavenda, Angel Investor
Asher Leids, Angel Investor
Josh Schlisserman, LvlUp Ventures
Jonathan Wallace, Expert DOJO
Nataliya Preiss, Angel Investor
Tom Nicholson, ARC Angel Fund
Rachael McCrary, Angel Investor
Allison Silvers, Tech Coast Angels
This FundingPost Venture Capital Event is sold out.
No additional applications are being accepted at this time.
**Please review our national Venture Capital
& Angel Investor event Schedule Here.**
Follow our events on Instagram and Twitter
"FundingPost allows the venture community to review many interesting deals in a short period of time. The consistent format allows VCs to quickly evaluate companies raising capital based on the criteria that's most important to them."- Deepak Kamra, Canaan Partners
"I know that I've invested in at least one deal associated with FundingPost events, and it's a great networking opportunity with the founders and the VCs that are there. I'm looking forward to this one!"- John Filla, Angel Investor, Houston Angel Network
"I just invested in a mobile company I met through FundingPost - Thanks!"- Jay Goldberg, Hudson Ventures
"Empire Angels has invested in two companies we met through FundingPost. This is a great forum for entrepreneurs to meet investors and we look forward to continued participation!"- Graham Gullans, Empire Angels
"FundingPost has provided Investors a great way to read company summaries from across the country, and entrepreneurs the opportunity to get in front of a lot of Venture Funds they wouldn't normally have access to."- Richard Irving, Pond Venture Partners
"I see CEO's get their PhDs in best practices for how-to-get-funded techniques. This is accomplished through FundingPost's well orchestrated and accomplished conferences - great for learning from and networking with the money sources."- Jeanne M. Sullivan, StarVest Partners
"BP's Castrol innoVentures invested in a company we met through FundingPost - They are a great resource for Investors and entrepreneurs alike!"- Miriam C Eaves, BP's Castrol innoVentures
"As a result of the conference we attended in Miami, Caerus made one of its first Investments in a Florida-based company whose CEO we met because of the impressive network FundingPost has constructed. "- Zachary A. Cherry, Caerus Ventures LLC
"I am happy to be a member of FundingPost.com. We always find good prospects, and the interface is efficient and easy to use. Thanks for putting this together."- George Petracek, Atrium Capital
"The Las Vegas Investor RoundTable of December 2013 was a great event because I got to know many talented entrepreneurs in Las Vegas that I would not have met in person otherwise. After the event, I made an investment of $25,000 in a seed idea that is looking very promising! I am looking forward to future events and future investments in Las Vegas entrepreneurs."- Don Sorensen, Las Vegas Angel Investor


text:
April 15, 2013
With prices for full-body personal fall arrest harnesses ranging as high as $400 each, it's a good idea to keep them away from environmental hazards when they're not being used. The harness in this picture was on the receiving end of welding splatter from welders who were working directly above the spot where a worker had left it.
This is also a good reminder to pay attention to the condition of your equipment and to make sure that it's appropriate for the job you're doing. Frequently inspect it frequently, keep it clean, and properly store it.
Each time you use a personal fall-arrest, restraint, or positioning-device system, inspect the components for damage or excessive wear. Replace any component that looks damaged. Don't use a personal fall-arrest system that has arrested a fall unless a competent person has determined that the system is safe to use.
Reprinting, excerpting, or plagiarizing any part of this publication is fine with us!
But remember: the information in this newsletter is intended to highlight safe work practices, but it does not replace Oregon OSHA workplace safety and health rules.
For information about Oregon OSHA services and answers to technical questions, call (503) 378-3272 or toll-free within Oregon, (800) 922-2689.


text:
Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
I have noticed that VNC on the Kubuntu side will sometimes reject connections. What's the recommended way of allowing remote access to a core/hybrid?
Specifically, I need to see the screen of the core/hybrid for troubleshooting call placement and using the dial pad. SSH, diskless, etc, won't get that done. Only some sort of screen sharing util.


text:
Volt Information Sciences, Inc. - Special Call
14/4/2020 12:00
Conference Call Volt Information Sciences Inc
Volt Information Sciences Inc Conference call will be held on Apr 14, 2020. During the earnings conference call's session Volt Information Sciences Inc will provide updated information and financial status.
Conference call is also referred to as: teleconference call or audio conference bridge. Conferencing service is provided in house or as cloud based teleconference service.
In order to join the audio conferencing dial conference bridge and key in the PIN code, Contact Volt Information Sciences Inc for this information
Schedule an online conference with QCONF conference service and get 5 free calls with online conferencing.
Volt Information Sciences, Inc. (the "Company" or "Volt") is a global provider of staffing services (traditional time and materials-based as well as project-based), managed service programs, technology outsourcing services and information technology infrastructure services. Our staffing services consist of workforce solutions that include providing contingent workers, personnel recruitment services, and managed service programs supporting primarily professional administration, technical, information technology, light-industrial and engineering positions. Our managed service programs consist of managing the procurement and on-boarding of contingent workers from multiple providers. Our technology outsourcing services provide pre and post production development, testing, and customer support to companies in the mobile, gaming, and technology devices industries.Read more Conference Call


text:
At the Hampton Inn Fort lauderdale-Cypress Creek you can count on comfortbale accommodations, superb amenities and award winning guest service. For business or pleasure their is nno better choice in Fort Lauderdale. Cozy Accommodations- 122 well appinted guest rooms Complimentary- Deluxe Breakfast Buffet- 6am-10am Complimentary local calls
Complimentary High Speed Wireless Internet Access
Complimentary Business Center
Outdoor Pool & Whirlpool Spa
Hilton Honors Points & Miles
100% Satisfaction Guarantee
Data is submitted by registered FlightAware members on 2009-May-11 08:28.You must register or login to edit FBO information.
Jet A and 100LL airport fuel prices for all FBOs at KPMP


text:
Annabeth Gish has been cast as Ben's sister on Parks and Recreation, TVGuide.com has confirmed.
As first reported by Entertainment Weekly, Gish will portray Stephanie, whom we'll meet when Ben (Adam Scott) and Leslie (Amy Poehler) head to Ben's hometown, where Ben briefly served as mayor before being impeached. (We previously met Ben's parents, portrayed by Jonathan Banks and Glenne Headly.)
How did Parks and Recreation do in the ratings on Thursday?
Gish, who was cast in FX's drama pilot The Bridge, recently appeared on Once Upon a Time and Pretty Little Liars.
Parks and Recreation airs Thursdays at 8:30/7:30c on NBC.


text:
We take a lot of pride around these parts in avoiding the typical East Coast knob-slobbering that goes on; rarely do people accuse one of a "Central Illinois Bias." But even we can't ignore a five-game series at Fenway Park in a tight August pennant race between the Red Sox and Yankees. Bronx Banter is fired up and analytical, and Soxaholix is suffering some sort of existential crisis. Yep: Sounds about right.
As we pay closer attention to the Cardinals-Cubs series, we nevertheless feel obliged to keep an eye on the Yankees and Sox, particularly because it's a five-game series and because Sidney Ponson might pitch. Though, as much as been written about and spoken on concerning the series, we're going to be disappointed if there's not a Zimmer/Pedro-esque throwdown, you know? Preferably with a scene at the end where David Wells gets Jason Giambi in a headlock and shaves that dipshit mustache.
Boston Red Sox: The Showdown [Bronx Banter]
How Dearly Bill Would Love To Kick With The Fray [Soxaholix]


text:
Once I get it hung, it'll settle out a little straighter. I've talked about the other quiltings in this piece before, so I'll just show the back. You see how little I quilted this? Still, where I did, it was a fair amount.
That was my FMQ for yesterday and the day before. Today, since my machine was still set up that way, I went ahead and worked on my challenge piece. I think it helped me a lot working on Prairie Children, I found this morning that I was much less inhibited by preconceived ideas. And it was a lot of fun!
Oh, yeah. Do you want to see my bag now that I've put the finishing touches on it? It's called, "The Chix are Jammin'". This bag is super cute and super easy to make. Just go see Sophie. The tutorial is on her blog. Remember to tell her how much you like it.


text:
Extra week for De Winne's OasISS Mission
ESA astronaut Frank De Winne's OasISS Mission has been extended by one week. The Russian Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft that he will return to Earth with together with Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk is now set to land on 1 December 2009.
De Winne has been living and working on the International Space Station (ISS) since his arrival with the Soyuz TMA-15 together with Romanenko and Thirsk on 29 May, two days after launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
He is a member of the Station's first six-strong crew, which currently comprises De Winne, Romanenko, Thirsk, Russian cosmonaut and ISS Commander Gennady Padalka and NASA astronauts Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott.
Padalka and Barratt will soon be replaced as Station residents by new crewmembers that are set to launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome tomorrow. With Padalka's departure from the ISS, De Winne takes over the responsibilities as Station Commander on 11 October. De Winne will be the first European to take on this role.
In his function as ISS Commander, De Winne will be responsible, among other things, for conducting operations on the ISS, directing the activities of the ISS crewmembers as a single, integrated team, ensuring the safety of the crew and the protection of the ISS elements, equipment, and payloads.


text:
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Actor Matt Damon presented Ben Affleck with the Santa Barbara (Calif.) International Film Festival's Modern Master Award at a ceremony at the Arlington Theatre.
The festival's highest honor went to Affleck for his work as actor, writer, producer and director of his best picture Oscar-nominated "Argo," The Hollywood Reporter reported Sunday.
The sold-out ceremony at the 2000-seat theater Saturday began with a two-hour question-and-answer session with film critic Leonard Maltin.
"I know exactly what I've achieved because I know how hard I've worked. That's the only shot I have at being successful," said, wrapping up the session.
He said becoming a father -- he has three daughters with actress Jennifer Garner -- has made it "profoundly important for me to do work that has integrity," since "the central challenge of one's lifetime is trying to make good people."
Friend and fellow actor, Damon, presented Affleck with the Modern Master Award statuette, saying that Affleck is such a great filmmaker because he knows how to problem-solve. The two won the best original screenplay Oscar in 1998 for co-writing "Good Will Hunting."
"So here he is now. He's made three fantastic movies, one better than the next," Damon said. "This last one, "Argo," is a legitimately great movie. No one's gonna be surprised if it wins the Oscar for best picture."


text:
By Andrew Liszewski
Dedicated business card scanners have mostly been replaced by camera-equipped smartphones, but I say mostly because a Japanese company called Novac has just bucked that trend and released this Simply Scan device. It looks like a tiny flatbed scanner that's barely larger than a business card, but oddly enough it doesn't work like one. Instead of a glass bed and a sliding scanning mechanism, you just lift the lid of the Simply Scan which positions a small camera over the center of the card. It then snaps a pic and uses included OCR software (running on your computer) to convert the details on the card into an entry in your address book.
Unfortunately it's only compatible with Windows based PCs, or at least I assume the included software is, and at ~$120+ (¥9,980) it's actually really expensive when you consider it's just a lo-res digital camera.
[ Novac Simply Scan ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]


text:
It's Donald Trump's moment to make his case to the country — and to the many rattled doubters in his own party.
Trump will close the four-day Republican National Convention with a speech Thursday night accepting the GOP presidential nomination. The most important speech of his life will bring down the balloons on a convention marked by divided loyalties and unwanted distractions.
Competing passions were sharply on display Wednesday night when Trump's fiercest primary rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, stopped far short of endorsing the nominee and drew loud boos.
Mike Pence's acceptance speech as Trump's running mate was overshadowed as a result, one more missed opportunity at a convention with a daily drip of them.
Trump tweeted about Cruz's speech: "No big deal!"
He said he saw the text of Cruz's speech two hours before it was delivered but thought, "let him speak anyway."
Cruz did not back down Thursday, telling his home state delegation he won't vote for Hillary Clinton but making no promise to endorse Trump.
"I'll be watching and listening," Cruz said, but added: "I won't sit down, shut up, support the team."
Cruz and Trump have significant bad political blood between them. Trump nicknamed him, "Lyin' Ted" and implied that Cruz's father, Rafael, was somehow connected to President John F. Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Trump also criticized the appearance of Cruz's wife, Heidi.
"I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father," Cruz said.
Throughout his improbable race for the White House, Trump has been guided by the same instincts he's relied on in a lifetime of audacious self-promotion, ambition and risk-taking.
Those instincts allowed a fabulously wealthy businessman to pull off a mind meld with the economic anxieties of ordinary Americans, elbowing aside the Republican A-team and breaking every rule of modern politics to become the party's presidential nominee.
Trump's team says he's ready for the speech, which is expected to focus on the need for change and criticism of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as the epitome of the establishment that should no longer rule politics.
"Her 25 years in the national spotlight are the 25 years where America has gone into decline," campaign chairman Paul Manafort told Fox News. "It's time for dramatic change — not just change where people promise changes and then go to Washington and do nothing."
The theme of the convention's final night is "Make America One Again." Speakers scheduled to appear before Trump's grand finale include Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal; Tom Barrack, CEO of Colony Capital; Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin; and Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University and a well-known evangelical leader.
Trump's oldest daughter, Ivanka, will introduce the candidate. She will be the last of four Trump children to speak and is expected to highlight her father's warmth beneath his rough edges and heart behind his bluntness.
Poised and polished, Ivanka is considered the campaign's "secret weapon." She introduced the celebrity businessman in June 2015, moments before he took his now-famous escalator ride at Trump Tower to announce his then-quixotic presidential campaign.
She recalled then her father urging her to "think big," adding that that is how he approaches any task: "He thinks big."
Cruz arrived in Cleveland with an eye on his own political future, holding a large rally with hundreds of supporters who greeted him with chants of "2020" — the next presidential election.
The Texas senator held the crowd during the first half of his convention hall speech Wednesday night, as he urged Americans to support the families of five police officers killed in Dallas this month. But he lost many delegates when he told them to "vote your conscience. Vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution."
Speaking after Cruz, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tried to do damage control.
"In this election, there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution," Gingrich said. "The only choice is a Trump-Pence Republican ticket."
Pence praised Trump as his own man, an independent spirit, and said change in the country will be "huge" under his presidency.
Pence framed the November presidential race as crucial to defining the makeup of the Supreme Court for the next 40 years. He said voters must ensure it's Trump picking the justices.
He called presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton the "secretary of the status quo," referring to her former job as secretary of state.
Pence said he never thought he'd be standing on the stage at his party's national convention. He joked that Trump is charismatic and must have been looking for balance in choosing him.
Two other failed Republican presidential candidates, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, addressed the crowd and supported Trump.
Trump's son, Eric, also addressed the convention. He said his father is the one candidate for president "who does not need this job."
Cleveland police say 17 people were arrested Wednesday following a chaotic protest near the arena hosting the convention.
The arrests happened as a protest group tried to burn an American flag near Quicken Loans Arena. It was the most turbulent protest since the four-day convention began Monday. More protests are expected on the conventions final day.
Democrats will host their convention next week in Philadelphia, with an announcement of Clinton's vice presidential pick expected as soon as Friday. Democrats familiar with the search say Clinton's campaign has focused on Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Labor Secretary Tom Perez.