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Ad of the Day: Bing
Microsoft warns you not to get 'Scroogled' by Google this holiday
Advertising writers love to coin new words, usually at the expense of reason and taste. The minds behind Microsoft's Bing, of all people, have hung their new anti-Google attack campaign on the rare exception—a quality portmanteau that squarely hits its target.
"Scroogled," a combination of the terms "screwed" and "Google," also has overtones of "Scrooge." Microsoft is playing up the latter connection, all the more appropriate for holiday ads. But the main point of the "Don't get Scroogled" work is clear enough: Google plans to screw you, and your wallet, this winter by serving you search results on its Google Shopping page that aren't neutral results at all, but rather paid advertisements.
The basic obnoxiousness of anti-advertising advertising aside, the tone of Bing's attack is more or less dead-on ruthless, but also kind of lighthearted. That way, Bing gets to jab nastily at goliath Google without seeming like it's taking itself too seriously. (Of course, Google also gets to lazily wave Bing away like an annoying little fly.)
The two video spots aren't really anything to write home about. Oddly, the kind of patronizing narrated demo, which emphasizes Google's own on-site copy to paint what looks like a pretty damning picture, is actually more compelling than the annoyingly (if intentionally) cheesy home-shopping sketch. But both do a serviceable job of getting across the message, and the strength of the concept helps carry them through.
The truly damning bits are on the hard-swinging Scroogled.com site Microsoft has set up, which features a ticker running apparently self-incriminating quotes from Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page, like "Advertising income often provides an incentive to provide poor-quality search results." In Google's characteristically opaque reality, it uses what it calls a mix of relevance and price bidding to determine which results surface, and claims that it's aimed at providing higher-quality information to users. When MarketWatch reached out to analysts to take their temperature, one agreed with Google, and another basically called the campaign irrelevant, as nobody really uses Google Shopping.
Will "Scroogled" become part of the popular lexicon? Maybe not. But for the time being at least, everyone else gets to grab a bag of popcorn and crack low-hanging jokes like "I'd rather be Scroogled than Binged."


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
1870 - 1948
Historical Period:
The 20th Century and Beyond
Fr. Robinson taught at a Franciscan Convent in Paterson, New Jersey in the early 20th century. He also translated the works of St. Francis of Assisi.

subset: commoncrawl


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Stay informed with Shaw Local's Election Central. Research your ballot, where the candidates stand on the issues and set yourself up with a reminder to vote.
SPRINGFIELD – Some longtime labor supporters chided Gov. Pat Quinn Wednesday over his legislative victory on a pension crisis he said he was "put on earth" to solve, a signal of the murky impact the landmark vote could have on next year's Illinois governor's race.
The Democratic governor's re-election hopes would seem to get a boost from the Legislature's approval Tuesday of a plan he embraced that eliminates a massive unfunded liability by cutting benefits for workers and retirees. However, there also were signs of erosion in his already complicated relationship with unions – though it wasn't clear just how much.
The single biggest contributor to Quinn's war chest, the Service Employees International Union, told The Associated Press that there could be "two big strikes" against endorsing Quinn for governor in November. Besides Quinn's support for the $160 billion savings plan, he also has been under fire from the union for considering signing legislation that would alter the pensions of Chicago Park District employees. Quinn is expected to sign state pension legislation early as Thursday in quiet ceremony, a nod to the political sensitivity of the issue affecting employees across the state.
As for whether he can count on the union's support next November, Adam Rosen, a spokesman for one union local said it was "completely up in the air." The labor union has endorsed Quinn and former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the past, but also has endorsed former Republican governors Jim Edgar and George Ryan, Rosen said.
The union sent members an email Tuesday reminding them that a "yes" vote on pension reform "means a 'no' vote on Election Day," though whether that will translate into any sort of noticeable bump for the eventual Republican nominee remains unclear.
The political impact of the vote could be felt just as much in the Republican primary as any impact on Quinn. The four candidates in the GOP primary field took vastly different approaches on pensions – at least in tone. They ranged from Sen. Bill Brady's ardent support for the package to venture capitalist Bruce Rauner's aggressive calls for lawmakers to vote it down.
Rosen told the AP the union has met with two Republican gubernatorial bidders seeking future endorsements. Republican state Sen. Kirk Dillard and state treasurer Dan Rutherford both spoke out against the pension plan, which passed by narrow margins. Quinn says he plans to sign it when it reaches his desk.
The legislation would push back workers' retirement age on a sliding scale, a funding guarantee, a 401(k)-style option. The annual 3 percent cost-of-living increases for retirees will be replaced with a system that only provides the increases on a portion of benefits, based on how many years a beneficiary was in their job.
Quinn has been championing pension reform for years, going so far as to halt lawmakers' pay – and his own – this summer until a solution was in hand.
Despite angering major campaign contributors, political analyst Thom Serafin notes the passage of the legislation comes off as a political win for the Chicago Democrat in the same year the governor signed into law a measure legalizing gay marriage.
"Quinn has had a tremendous legislative year," Serafin said. "He's made every effort to make this his keynote moment. He looks strong going into November with a major piece of legislation behind him."
Serafin said he thinks Brady, a Bloomington Republican who helped negotiate the package, will actually benefit more than he loses in the Republican primary because he took a decisive stance.
While Rauner's vocal opposition to the pension plan didn't prevent its passage, but his strong statements may work to his advantage in a GOP primary, says Pat Brady, a former Illinois GOP chairman.
Decrying the plan as a "band-aid on an open wound," Rauner is taking a position that solidifies him as the leader of fiscal conservatives in the race, Brady said.
Harsh criticism of Rauner's involvement on the pension plan from top Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Michael Madigan, can also play well in the March race, working to erode an idea that Rauner is "cozy" with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other top Democrats whose campaigns contributed to over the years.
Rauner toughened his rhetoric on the legislation Wednesday.
"It does too little to fix our pension mess, there is no relief in sight for taxpayers and state government and the economy remain broken," Rauner said in a statement provided to the AP. He blasted "Springfield insiders" who are "congratulating themselves because they think they've fixed their political problems."
Dillard of Hinsdale's fundraising numbers trail behind both Rauner's and Rutherford's. He may see a much-needed boost to his war chest after voting against Tuesday's bill, but at the same time, could risk being painted as pandering to labor for the money.
Rutherford, of Chenoa, was the only one of the four GOP candidates who did not take on the merits of the legislation directly. In a statement he simply noted he "doesn't believe the legislation will stand judicial review."
Brady called that an "avoidance tactic" and a "much weaker approach" on the issue than the other candidates in the field.
"In this environment, people are clamoring for reform," Brady said.


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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – More details came to light Wednesday in the robbery and fatal shooting of a check-cashing store clerk and the subsequent police shootout that left the suspect and a bystander injured Tuesday.
The Broward County sheriff and the lead detective on the case called the fatal shooting of Claire Geffrard, 25, an execution.
According to the arrest report, Stanley Beasley, 33, of Lauderhill, targeted Geffrard, followed her into a parking lot and demanded she let him into the check-cashing store at 2927 W. Sunrise Blvd. where she worked.
Geffrard was on the phone with another employee at the time of the incident. According to the report, the line suddenly went dead.
The other employee called police, then tried to call Geffrard back. Geffrard told the employee, "Tell police to leave. He's got a gun to my head."
Police said Geffrard led Beasley into the safe, and he shot her in the head anyway.
"After he shot the victim, that's when he made a mad dash out of the store and shot at our deputies," said Louie Rivera, of BSO.
Deputies returned fire, shooting Beasley before the SWAT team moved into the store. A bystander who was across the street also was shot. It is unclear whether he was shot by Beasley or by deputies returning fire.
Beasley faces charges of first-degree murder, armed kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.


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McLEAN, Va. — When former CIA officer John Kiriakou is sentenced Friday in federal court for leaking the name of one of the agency's covert operatives to a reporter, his ultimate fate will not be in doubt. The plea calls for a 2 1/2 -year prison term.
Still, the fight over the 48-year-old Kiriakou's reputation remains fierce.
Kiriakou and his supporters portray him as an anti-torture whistleblower paying the price for doing the right thing by exposing what they consider the worst aspects of the government's so-called enhanced interrogation program.
To federal prosecutors, though, Kiriakou's claims of altruism and martyrdom are galling. In court papers filed on Jan. 18, they say Kiriakou was motivated by fame and money and "was engaged in a concerted campaign to raise his media profile, principally to advance his private pecuniary interests through, among other things, consulting engagements, publication of editorials, more remunerative and secure employment, and sales of his forthcoming book."
The claim to be an anti-torture whistleblower makes no sense, the government says, given that he essentially defended the CIA's interrogation techniques in his initial interviews, which were among the first given by a CIA insider after news broke about the government's admission that it engaged in waterboarding.
Kiriakou told one interviewer that he came forward "because he thought the CIA 'had gotten a bum rap on waterboarding,'" prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.
Even more, while Kiriakou now portrays the leak of one covert officer's name as an attempt to expose those who orchestrated the torture program, Kiriakou at the time described that officer, identified in court papers only as Covert Officer A, as "a very good guy" to journalists.
Defense lawyers maintained Kiriakou was a victim of a vindictive prosecution, alleging that the government only went after him because they didn't like what he was saying about the CIA in his book, "The Reluctant Spy," and in public interviews.
But prosecutors say the case against Kiriakou developed when authorities discovered a potentially dangerous security breach: prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were discovered possessing photographs of one of their interrogators. It was that investigation that ultimately led to the discovery of Kiriakou's leaks.
Indeed, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected the claims of vindictive prosecution early on in the case.
Nevertheless, Kiriakou and his supporters insist he fits the mold of an honorable whistleblower persecuted for exposing wrongdoing. On Wednesday, Kiriakou's portrait was unveiled at the popular Washington restaurant Busboys and Poets, where it will be part of a traveling exhibition and hang alongside portraits of the Dalai Lama and Gandhi.
More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition asking President Barack Obama to commute Kiriakou's sentence. The petition calls Kiriakou "an American hero." It credits him with exposing CIA torture and says he is the only person going to jail in connection with the CIA's enhanced interrogation program.
Jesselyn Radack, one of Kiriakou's lawyers, acknowledged that Kiriakou's initial statements to the public about waterboarding and torture were ambivalent. But she said he became more and more adamantly opposed to torture as years went on, and that the CIA became more and more irritated with him.
She said the government's explanation that it prosecuted Kiriakou only because of what was found at Guantanamo is belied by the fact that Guantanamo detainees were found in possession of multiple photographs of covert officers, and leaks that were traced back to others were never prosecuted. She said leaks that carry the government's tacit blessing, like those that informed filmmakers' research for the film "Zero Dark Thirty," which documents the CIA's hunt for Osama bin Laden, were never pursued.
Most aggravating, she said, is that of all the people who were implicated and exposed in the scandal surrounding the government's use of torture in the war on terror, Kiriakou is the only one going to jail, and he never tortured anyone. In fact, he explicitly turned down offers from his CIA superiors to be trained in so-called enhanced interrogation.
"If John had tortured anyone, I'm confident he never would have been prosecuted," Radack said.
Kiriakou, of Arlington, was a CIA veteran who played a role in the agency's capture of al-Qaida terrorist Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan in 2002. Abu Zubaydah revealed information that led to the arrest of "dirty bomb" plotter Jose Padilla and exposed Khalid Sheikh Mohamed as the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Abu Zubaydah was subjected to both traditional interrogations and waterboarding. FBI agents who conducted the traditional interrogations say the waterboarding and other aggressive tactics were ineffective.
Kiriakou did not participate in Abu Zubaydah's waterboarding.
Under the deal with prosecutors, Kiriakou pleaded guilty last October to leaking the identity of one of the agency's covert operatives to a reporter. Prosecutors dropped charges brought under the World War I-era Espionage Act. They also dropped a count of making false statements.


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Glanville, Stephen Ranulph Kingdon - correspondence
- Unidad documental compuesta
- 1925 - 1945
Parte dePercy Edward Newberry Collection
Correspondence from Stephen Ranulph Kingdon Glanville (British Museum) relating to his work at the British Museum, Egypt Exploration Society and University College London, and referring to several contemporary Egyptologists.
Includes correspondence relating to: an oblong pottery box (British Museum, 32639);
various research queries including predynastic pots, palettes, Akhenaton, Ay, beekeeping; the Carnavon collection; publication of articles by Newberry; excavation at Erment and discussion of Emery's character; the possibility of a position for Battiscombe-Gunn; excavation at El Amarna; Mrs Hubbard's funding for the EES; possibility of excavation starting at Soleb; finding Käthe Bosse work; the death of Robert Mond and relating to his obituary; Flinders Petrie and a lecture by Glanville for the Royal Institute.
Also includes draft replies from Newberry including relating to the lotus pattern, El Amarna, Käthe Bosse, Petrie's obituary, and selling Dorothy Hood's necklace.
MSS 17/39 is also numbered 299
MSS 17/40 is also numbered 209
MSS 17/43 is also numbered 3
MSS 17/44 is also numbered 20
MSS 17/53 is also numbered A.144
MSS 17/57 is also numbered A.148
MSS 17/58 is also numbered A.147
MSS 17/60 is also numbered A.170


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Welcome, welcome~I do that as well lol! Or like, when there is a group of people, and one person responds but we're still waiting on a few others, I'll start off a post somewhere because I already know what I wanna say to at least one person who has replied. Then as the others make their posts, I add it in, (or try to) as best as I can and it kinda feeling like a puzzle. c:I'm still reading over a few things for the day, but I noticed that Ifrit was alone. I've got Ku'Jin free if you're interested in them chatting it up?
Hey you two!
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Archive for Thursday, December 18, 2008
Fatal accident occurs on 24/40 in construction zone
December 18, 2008
The wife of Leavenworth County Commissioner-elect John Flower died Thursday night in a construction zone traffic accident on U.S. Highway 24-40, east of Basehor.
Howard Dickinson, technical trooper with the Kansas Highway Patrol, said Diana Marie Flower, 62, Bonner Springs, had died by the time officers arrived after the van she was driving west on U.S. 24-40 crossed into the eastbound lane and struck a grain truck head-on.
"She had been out shopping and was coming home and somehow got in the wrong lane, and they collided," John Flower said in his home early Friday afternoon.
The Highway Patrol reported the accident occurred at 8:21 p.m. Thursday in a construction zone just west of 142nd Street.
The driver of the truck, Danny E. Hall, 51, LaPlata, Mo., suffered unspecified injuries but was not taken to a hospital.
Dickinson said both vehicles were traveling about 45 miles per hour when the accident occurred.
"(Hall) was attempting to evade her, but he had nowhere to go," Dickinson said. "There was a tremendous amount of damage done to both vehicles."
Dickinson said Hall was wearing his seatbelt, and Flower, who was paralyzed from the chest down because she had multiple sclerosis, was restrained in the handicapped-equipped van.
John Flower was with his family at his home Friday.
He said Diana's disability never seemed to slow her down.
"She was an excellent driver with her hands," he said. "She did anything she wanted and went wherever she wanted to go."
John Flower said his wife's death came just months after his son-in-law died in a climbing accident in Colorado and just days before the couple would have celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary on Dec. 20.
"She was a strong, compassionate and loving woman," John Flower said about Diana. "The only thing she ever wanted was to be good to her kids and her husband."
Construction to replace the bridge on Kansas Highway 7 and U.S. 24-40, as well as new interchanges for the intersection began in March.
Dickinson said there had not been many accidents reported along the stretch of highway where Thursday's mishap occurred and to his knowledge, this was the only fatality.
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Did Obama and Hagel's offers to forfeit part of their salaries really mean anything?
In the Young Leaders Panel, Government Executive editors pose a question about an issue affecting the federal workforce to a group of emergent leaders outside the federal community. The following responses come from St. Louis Coro™ Fellows Program in Public Affairs class of 2013:
Question: As furloughs begin, several government leaders have announced they will take voluntary pay cuts. In early April, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he would forfeit part of his pay and President Obama announced he would give 5 percent of his salary (about $16,667 of his $400,000 annual salary) back to the Treasury Department in a show of solidarity with federal employees facing unpaid furloughs. Some say the voluntary cuts shows empathy and support for the oft-vilified federal worker while others say the voluntary cuts don't amount to much and are merely symbolic—especially for the President, who has an expense account and pays little of his own day-to-day expenses. When organizations are going through tough times, is it necessary for leaders to sacrifice along with those they lead? How can effective leaders demonstrate commitment to each and every member of a struggling organization without seeming inauthentic?
The following responses come from four fellows that make up the Coro St. Louis 2013 class.
Symbols have meaning
Sacrifices by leaders in times of difficulty are a way to build respect, loyalty and solidarity with those in the organization that are struggling. The rank and file will weigh this connection with their leader alongside a myriad of other personal and professional motivations when deciding whether to stay with the organization and how hard to work in their role. In this context I would not characterize President Obama and Secretary Hagel's pay cuts as necessary; federal workers are likely to be most concerned about the uncertainty around their employment and the impact furloughs will have on their financial future and well-being.
In large and complex organizations, such as the federal government, it seems highly unlikely that gestures from the highest leaders could authentically demonstrate commitment to each member of their organization. Leaders cannot directly interact with everyone and thus their actions will be left to interpretation, praise and/or criticism regardless of their underlying commitment. In the case of President Obama, he may have bypassed some of the criticism expressed by taking a larger cut in pay. A more substantive voluntary forfeiture would likely have appeared more authentically sympathetic to the hardships federal employees face due to mandatory furloughs.
--Jake Barnett (Chicago, IL)
Challenges of scale
The struggles a leader faces to seem authentic to their team only grow as the team expands. The federal government, a very large team, has its fair share of seemingly inauthentic leaders. So the question of how a leader remains authentic rings particularly true there.
Leaders of the federal government agreeing to pay cuts in this time of uncertainty for the nation makes good sense to many. When the belt of an organization is tightened, it makes sense to tighten that belt all the way around. The leader does not deserve to keep reaping the rewards they saw in a robust economy. When workers look at those in leadership, they see recognition of their troubles in the leader that has returned some of their pay. It is an acknowledgement of the tough times and should be applauded as a valiant effort.
The quickest way to destroy this hopefully authentic gesture is to extend the hardship of pay cuts and furloughs unnecessarily. These pay cuts will be seen as genuine if they cause our leaders to find a solution. An authentic understanding of the problems facing workers who are furloughed is a renewed fervor to find a solution.
--Erica Muñoz-Fitch (Iowa City, IA)
Symbolizing leadership
Symbols are powerful things and can be effective in relaying a message to a wide audience. The symbol has to be backed by an underlying belief in order for it to be powerful and effective. In some cases it is necessary for a sacrifice to be made and that sacrifice has to be one that is significant enough for those being led to recognize and respect.
The symbolic sacrifice in this case is not what federal workers need in order to feel like the Defense Secretary and the President have their best interests at heart. An effective leader can best show solidarity with his or her followers by leading them out of the difficult times. That effective leader would become a symbol of the better times to come, and share his/her vision with others while setting and maintain a course out of the difficult times and into the prosperous times. Providing some stability and job security along with letting workers know what their fate is will help quell some of the fears that go along with the unknown. Additionally sharing a plan for the future that will help those affected by furloughs and prevent this same thing from recurring is the most effective way to show that they have the best interests of the workers at heart.
--Mandela Byam (Tulsa, OK)
Leading from the heart
Imagine a different situation. A visiting dignitary somehow learns that Obama routinely takes a significant pay cut, indexed to the economy. ("Significant" would mean an amount that we all agree is significant--greater than 5%.) Obama has kept the cut active since the beginning of his first term as a personal reminder of the gravity of his office. The dignitary leaks the unknown fact to the press, and the story blows up.
If things happened that way, the facts would refute any serious accusations of extrinsic, "political" motivation. We would all spontaneously perceive an integrity that is normally hidden from us by the spotlight of attention. This is not what happened.
No, it is not "necessary" for leaders to sacrifice. Authentic sacrifice cannot be expected or compelled. If leaders' hearts draw them to sacrifice they might learn something useful. If the desire is weak it is best not to toy with such powerful tools while in the public eye. No-one should expect to earn political capital for making the right decisions. If you make the right decisions, your integrity will occasionally shine through, and you will give your spin doctors material they cannot screw up. Leadership is distinct from ideas about what is "necessary."
--Nathan Garrett (Chicago, IL)
Read the panel's previous responses:
- What Does the Ideal Work Environment Look Like?
- With GSA Canceling Trainings, How Can Feds Develop New Skills?
The Coro™ Fellows Program in Public Affairs is an intensive, nine-month, full-time program that combines exposure to various industries with rigorous, hands-on training. The program uses experiential learning; interviews with private, public and nonprofit decision-makers; and training in critical thinking, communication and project management. These 16 Fellows are participating in the program in St. Louis, where it is operated by FOCUS St. Louis. The program is also offered in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Pittsburgh.
Image via EDHAR/Shutterstock.com


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Burke to run first gubernatorial TV ad this week
Democrat Mary Burke's first television ad in the race against Republican Gov. Scott Walker will begin airing in multiple markets Friday, touting her background with bicycle maker Trek while also attacking Walker's record on jobs.
The ad, released by Burke's campaign online Wednesday, comes eight months before the November election and signals that the race is heating up. Walker's campaign has yet to release an ad but the Republican Governors Association launched a pair of spots last month that a liberal group tracking spending said cost $1.2 million.
Burke references the RGA ads in her first spot, which mixes details about her history as an executive at Trek Bicycle Corp. with attacks on Walker's record. Burke does not speak in the 30-second spot, but it shows various images of her, including video of her inspecting bicycles as they're being assembled.
Trek was formed by Burke's father, John Burke, in Waterloo in 1976. Burke worked there two different times, from 1990 to 1993 and again from 1995 to 2004. Burke served as state Commerce Secretary under Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle from 2005 to 2007.
Burke currently serves as a member of the Madison school board. This is her first statewide race.
Walker is seeking re-election at the same time he's widely considered to be a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful. How well the state's economy is performing under Walker, and whether Burke offers a better alternative, is expected to be a central theme of the race.
Burke's spokesman, Joe Zepecki, said her campaign was spending six figures to buy time on broadcast and cable stations in multiple markets. He would not disclose which markets or the exact amount of the buy.
Walker's spokeswoman Alleigh Marre said Burke's ad "makes clear that her campaign will be based on outright fabrications and distortions of the truth - which is not surprising because of her dismal record as a key member of the Doyle administration that saw Wisconsin employment and business creation plummet while deficits skyrocketed."
Wisconsin Republican Party executive director Joe Fadness said Burke was misleading voters and distracting them from unemployment that hit 9.2 percent during the recession while Doyle was governor, the loss of 133,000 jobs and a budget shortfall that topped out over $3 billion.
In Burke's ad, a narrator says that "under Walker, unemployment is up." In supporting materials, Burke's campaign notes that unemployment was never higher than 4.8 percent while she was at the Commerce Department, while it's never been lower than 6.2 percent since Walker's been governor.
But when Walker took office the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent, and it's steadily decreased over the past three years.
The RGA ads focused on Burke's time at the Commerce Department, highlighting a critical audit of the department when she was secretary and also faulting Trek for outsourcing jobs overseas.
In Burke's ad, she says that Trek employs 930 people in Wisconsin. Burke's ad also references several high-profile companies, including American TV and SC Johnson, which have recently announced layoffs.


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Sioux Falls Activist Pleads Not Guilty to Robo-call Charges
MADISON, S.D. (AP) - A Sioux Falls Republican political activist has pleaded not guilty to orchestrating a robo-call campaign during election season that criticized GOP legislative leaders but lacked the necessary identifying disclaimers.
State prosecutors allege that 31-year-old Daniel Willard violated four counts of a state election law governing the production of campaign ads and communications in the run-up to an election.
Attorney R. Shawn Tornow entered the plea Thursday morning in Madison.
Tornow says there was no violation and Willard is confident he'll be exonerated. The attorney says state law is unclear on what constitutes a communication and what is required.
The misdemeanor charges carry maximum penalties of a year behind bars and a $2,000 fine.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Material may not be redistributed.


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I am Beginning to See a Trend….
By Angie Patrick
I just got back in from the Florida State Massage Therapy Association Annual Convention in Orlando. Not only did I see all my old and dear friends, but I am DELIGHTED to say I made MANY, MANY new ones!
While this does not seem to be extraordinary in and of itself, it does show me a definite trend in massage conferencing I am in high hopes will continue to grow and develop.
At the last two Massage Conference / Conventions I have attended, < The AMC and FSMTA> I have seen an influx of new people coming out who have never experienced a trade show before. These are practicing massage therapists who have never had exposure to a conference or tradeshow floor before. This is a VERY good thing for the massage industry, because it means that people who had not been active in the community are now branching out and learning how involvement can benefit us all.
My litmus test for this new trend is quite simply, our orders. Our company would have <arguably> one of the largest repositories of massage therapist data in the country. If someone works in the massage field, the chances are strong we have their name address and phone number. That being said, we have averaged 25-30% of our total orders being that of people who are not already in our databases. THIS IS HUGE! This is something we have not seen in years, and it is a trend that will be welcomed news by massage associations, distributors, vendors and manufacturers alike.
I am especially encouraged as I am seeing a rise in spending by therapists at shows. The last two years have been hard on many economically, and with an increase < albeit slight> in spending at trade shows, I am hopeful this is heralding in a stronger industry trend upward. While I am not saying we are back to the levels we saw in 2007-08, I am saying I am becoming ever more hopeful with the positive signs I am seeing in the marketplace.
I am also excited to see the level of participation from massage STUDENTS! This is a virtually untapped market of folks eager and hungry for information. As evidenced at the last two student events I have attended, the attendance is rising and we are doing a better job overall of bringing these new peers into the community. The FSMTA has SUCCESSFUL START, and this is really a powerhouse event! The American Massage Conference has the SMART FROM THE START event, and it was also a huge success. Finding and informing massage students about events such as this is a challenge, so growth in this tier is truly exciting.
Forward momentum and a unified community will help us reach our industry goals. Being part of the massage community for me is a blessing. I have met and had the pleasure to work with so many gifted and amazing people. If you have never been to a conference, I encourage you to go! It is an experience not to be missed as the opportunity for education and savings on massage products and massage equipment is substantial. Completely worth the price of admission!
Read more posts by Angie Patrick at Massage Today.


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£28.45 £56.90
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MARTINEZ — A Concord man has been convicted of 14 felonies for sexually abusing two girls over a six-year period, the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office said Friday.
Gary Anthony Carter, 51, faces a punishment of up to 126 years to life in state prison at his sentencing Jan. 18.
A jury found Carter guilty Wednesday of 10 counts of rape, three counts of lewd acts on a child, and one count of forcible oral copulation, and charge enhancements for substantial sexual contact for abuse that began in 2006 when the victims were 9 and 12 years old.
The abuse, which occurred in Antioch and Concord, stopped in 2011 when the elder victim called police and had Carter arrested, deputy district attorney Mary Blumberg said.
"That's when we found out his long history of sexually abusing young girls," Blumberg said.
The jury heard evidence about three previous victims, two of whom Carter abused in the early 1990s, and a third that he abused in 2011, Blumberg said. Two of those victims took the witness stand.
Contact Malaika Fraley at 925-234-1684. Follow her at Twitter.com/malaikafraley.


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19 Apr
Greening up Heworth Holme
Fri 19 Apr 2019 at 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Heworth Holme, Bad Bargain/Tang Hall Lane entrance, York, YO31 0RE
Please note the meeting place is the entrance to Heworth Holme near the junction between Bad Bargain and Tang Hall Lane, YO31 0RE
This seasonal task work day – we'll be carrying out general maintenance of the site and other spring tasks – is part of our York Becks Project, which includes restoring the wetland meadow at Heworth Holme. Our aim is to make this valuable green space more colourful and attractive for both the local community and wildlife. Heworth Holme is a remnant of old countryside in the town, protected from development by its regular winter flooding and part of a wildlife corridor between St Nicks Nature Reserve and other green spaces along the Tang Hall Beck.
These events are part of our York Becks Project, funded thanks to Lord Mayor 2016-17's fundraising.
Who is the event suitable for?
Anyone who'd like to have a go at volunteering, meeting new people and enjoying the outdoors while doing something useful as part of One Planet Living. Families and younger people are welcome – there will be a range of tasks for all ages. Please note that under 18s need parental consent and under 13s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Free entry, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com for more details or to confirm you are planning to attend
Online bookings are not available for this event.


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What is this project?
It is a project to install 300 feet of new concrete sidewalk on the west side of Old Missouri Road from Cinnamon Way to Honeysuckle Lane.
Why is it important?
This new segment will provide a connection to the existing sidewalks between neighborhoods to Zion Road, creating a complete pedestrian pathway.
What is the current status?
This project is upcoming.
How is this project being funded?
Funding for this project comes from the Street Fund. The Street Fund is financed through two sources:
1) Turn-back revenues from the State of Arkansas. The State collects motor fuel taxes, which are returned to the City on a per-capita basis.
2) Turn-back monies received from the County Road Millage Tax. The City receives 80% of the road millage levied by the Quorum Court on real and personal property located within the city


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Join us on Sunday at 10:30am for a service that lasts about an hour.
Abundant Life Community Church is a church in North Royalton, Ohio designed to meet your needs in the 21st century. We are a group of friendly, happy people who have discovered the joy of the Christian life! Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) We believe that God designed you to live an abundant life, and we are here to help you do that.
Our Sunday morning service is designed with you in mind. Our children's ministry provides an exciting, quality experience for your child that runs simultaneously with our service. Drop off the kids, grab a cup of fresh-brewed coffee, and relax while listening to uplifting music, creative arts, and an encouraging word from a pastor that cares about you. Rest assured you will never be put on the spot, never singled out, and never embarrassed.
Join Pastor Rocky and the Abundant Life Family on Sunday mornings at 10:30am for a church service that will INSPIRE you and leave you feeling great about life!
We have resumed our in person worship services beginning Sunday, May 31st 2020.
Click HERE to read a letter describing our Covid 19 Guidelines for Re-Opening.


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2014 Chevrolet SS Review
A ghost is haunting Woodward Avenue late on a Saturday night, disturbing the silence that stretches all the way from downtown Detroit through the economic wasteland near Hamtramck to the slumbering suburbs above 8 Mile. Few cars are on the road. A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution heading northwest around Pontiac is clearly just going home, and yet its driver can't resist the challenge when an unfamiliar-looking large sedan rolls up next to him in a low gear. He takes off hard at the next stoplight and probably thinks he's escaped when it comes up behind him, roaring and pulling hard past his front fender at 80 mph. This happens three or four times until he finally lowers his window, astonished, and asks, "What is that thing?" It's the 2014 Chevrolet SS -- a big, rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet sedan with a 415-hp V-8. It's a ghost.
In its heyday, the V-8 Chevy dominated straight, wide boulevards like these. Chevrolet introduced the small-block V-8 for 1955 and immediately stuffed it into its bread-and-butter full-size cars. The cherry red Bel Air that Mike Helfrich drove to our photo shoot in Detroit's Eastern Market would have cost about $2000 when new, roughly $17,500 in today's money. No wonder Chevy sold some 740,000 V-8-powered vehicles that first year. It's worth noting that the 265-cubic-inch engine put out only 162 to 180 hp, just as it's worth remembering that radial tires, airbags, and stability control are nice things to have. But that's beside the point. In 1955, a Chevrolet was one of the most powerful and stylish cars on the market, and almost anyone could afford one.
Not everyone will be able to afford a 2014 Chevrolet SS. Chevrolet is importing it from Australia, where a strong currency and high labor costs drive up the price. Unlike the Pontiac G8, the SS's direct predecessor, the Chevy will not offer a base V-6. The only specification is roughly equivalent to a loaded G8 GXP. The spacious, well-equipped interior will seat five real people, and the 16.4-cubic-foot trunk will happily swallow enough luggage for a long road trip. Of course, the key measure here is horsepower per dollar. The 6.2-liter LS3 V-8, virtually the same engine the G8 GXP used, connects to the rear wheels via a 3.27:1 axle. Chevy says the big sedan will hit 60 mph in five seconds. At any speed, it has that eager, straining-at-the-leash feel unique to cars with a powerful normally aspirated engine. The price for such preparedness is putrid fuel economy -- 14 mpg in the city and 21 mpg on the highway. However, what you get is a $45,000 Chevy sedan that'll go toe-to-toe with a $65,000 BMW 550i or, for that matter, with a two-door sports car like the Camaro SS.
Chevrolet drivers could go toe-to-toe with just about anything in the early 1960s. By then, the Corvette (nearly canceled in '55) was coming into its own as a world-class sports car. And yet it still seemed natural and proper that the baddest Chevrolet be based on the one that most people bought. And so, for an extra $376.65 -- a hefty chunk of change back then -- an Impala Super Sport buyer could opt for the 409-hp, 409-cubic-inch big-block V-8 that was winning on NASCAR ovals and NHRA drag strips. Today, John Schraufnagel's 1962 Impala SS, suffering from a failing starter, rode to Detroit on a trailer. The 409 coughs to life as it pulls into position for photos, settling into a rat-a-tat race idle that translates to, "I wasn't built to sit for photos."
But it does look good in them. The design has the understated elegance of the early Bill Mitchell era. Like the '55, it seems to tell the world that a Chevrolet owner deserves the best. The new SS, in contrast, makes do with a pastiche of five-year-old design clichés -- bubbly headlamps, fender gills, and a pinched Bangle butt. That said, people seem to like it. Helfrich, the owner of the '55, finds it "aggressive," calling out the nineteen-inch wheels and the piano-black-accented front fascia. A butcher at the end of a night shift walks over for a closer look and gives us his number in case we ever want a ride in his
Pontiac GTO Judge.
The 409 was the apogee of full-size Chevrolet muscle. The performance war of the 1960s soon shifted toward smaller vehicles like the Chevelle and the Camaro. The fuel-economy wars of the 1970s and '80s only hastened the downsizing trend. By the 1990s, Chevrolet and car buyers had mostly moved on from large, body-on-frame sedans, let alone high-performance variants. And yet, old ideas are tough to kill. A revived Impala SS debuted as a concept at the 1992 Detroit auto show and drew such a reception that General Motors decided to build it. Essentially a police-package Caprice with a slightly lowered suspension, the 1994-96 Impala SS sold reasonably well -- more than 40,000 in the final year, including the 5900-mile example owned since new by Ford (yes, Ford) employee Jim Ledingham. But by then GM, like the rest of the American auto industry, had gotten into the crack cocaine that was the SUV craze. It canned the big Chevy, along with its Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac relatives, to free up production capacity.
As the SS's nearest contemporary in this group, the '90s Impala provides clear evidence of how far the company has advanced. The Impala rides on a frame dating back to 1977 and sends 260 hp through a live rear axle. "Nothing rides like a body-on-frame car," Ledingham asserts. The SS uses the latest version of the Zeta rear-wheel-drive unibody platform -- the Holden Commodore on which it's based underwent a significant refresh for 2013 -- and wears an aluminum hood and trunk lid. Beyond the leap forward in hardware, the 2014 Chevrolet SS benefits from the wholesale improvements in GM products over the last decade -- everything from the interior materials to the weighting of the electric power steering speak to a certain level of competence and know-how. The Impala handled well for a big car. The SS handles well, period -- tons of grip, surprising balance, excellent body control. It actually feels nimbler and easier to place in a corner than the smaller Camaro (the fact that it has real windows helps). Still, the '96 Impala was one of the best GM cars of a depressing era -- and is fast becoming a modern classic -- because it stayed true to Chevrolet's core ideals.
The decades blur as the four cars start up for a short cruise through downtown Detroit. The owners, who hadn't previously known each other but all insure their vehicles through Hagerty, bond over their shared automotive culture. Cars they owned. Cars they always wanted. A long, straight highway entrance ramp in metro Detroit that once served as an illicit drag strip. All express interest in the 2014 Chevrolet SS, although Schraufnagel worries that its fuel economy won't suffice for a daily driver. The rumbling exhaust notes play off each other, and, for a moment, it's easy to imagine how shiny new American cars once burbled up and down Detroit's wide boulevards on clear autumn evenings such as this. Of course, that was a long time ago. Shortly after dinner, the 409 goes back on the trailer (hauled by a late-model Silverado), and the rest of the cars disappear back toward the suburbs.
Don't be deluded into viewing the SS as any kind of return to the golden days. Chevrolet doesn't plan to import more than 4000 of them annually from Australia. For 2013, the SS became Chevy's NASCAR model. Officially, Chevrolet hasn't decided what will follow. "Stay tuned," says Dave Leone, GM's executive chief engineer for global product platforms. Unofficially, it's hard to imagine this car becoming any more of a commercial success than the last two Holden-sourced imports, the Pontiac GTO and G8. To sell more, GM would have to consider relocating production to North America. It would also have to improve fuel economy -- think cylinder deactivation and a transmission with more than six speeds -- so as not to adversely impact the company's CAFE standing. Those things cost money that Chevy would probably rather use to, say, improve its all-important compact and mid-size cars. We get all that. And yet the 2014 Chevrolet SS still haunts us as a reminder of a time when Chevry built powerful, charismatic sedans for the masses.
1955 Chevrolet Bel Air two-door sedan
Engine: 4.3L (265 cu in) OHV V-8, 162-180 hp, 257-260 lb-ft (gross)
Transmissions: 2-speed automatic, 3-speed manual
Original price: $1987
Value today: $15,000-$30,000
1955 Bel Air production: 770,955
1962 Chevrolet Impala SS 409
Engine: 6.7L (409 cu in) OHV V-8, 380-409 hp, 420 lb-ft (gross)
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Original price: $3153
Value today: $40,000-$75,000
1962 Chevy 409 production: 15,019
1996 Chevrolet Impala SS
Engine: 5.7L (350 cu in) OHV V-8, 260 hp, 330 lb-ft (net)
Transmission: 4-speed automatic
Original price: $24,405
Value today: $8000-$15,000
1996 Impala SS production: 41,941
2014 Chevrolet SS
- Base Price: $44,470
- Powertrain
- Engine: 16-valve OHV V-8
- Displacement: 6.2 liters (376 cu in)
- Power: 415 hp @ 5900 rpm
- Torque: 415 lb-ft @ 4600 rpm
- Transmission: 6-speed automatic
- Drive: Rear-wheel
- Chassis
- Steering: Electrically assisted
- Front Suspension: Strut-type, coil springs
- Rear Suspension: Multilink, coil springs
- Brakes F/R: Vented discs/discs
- Tires: Bridgestone Potenza REO50A
- Tire Sizes F, R: 245/40R-19 98Y, 275/35R-19 96Y
- Measurements
- L x W x H: 195.5 x 74.7 x 57.9 in
- Wheelbase: 114.8 in
- Weight: 3975 lb
- Cargo Capacity: 16.4 cu ft
- EPA Mileage: 14/21 mpg
0-60 mph:
- 5.0 seconds
- Top Speed: 161 mph


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Fluid Film Rust Preventative x 1
Fluid Film Rust Preventative
Fluid Film Rust Preventative
Item #219480
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Prevent rust on outdoor equipment
Fluid Film Rust Preventative is a highly-protective, non-drying film that penetrates and protects metal to prevent rust. A unique lanolin-based gel formula is ideal for outdoor use to break through heavily corroded and/or frozen parts such as nuts, bolts and shafts. Fluid Film retains tackiness when dry to prevent oxidation often caused by fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and salts. Fluid Film will not harm paint, synthetic rubber, plastic or burn greenery. Nontoxic and nonhazardous. 12-oz. spray can.


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October 2, 2010 at 6pm to December 4, 2012 at 7pm – EUROPE, ASIA AND AFRICAN FOOTBALL TRIALS Opportunity for football players looking for new contracts, engagement or simple favorable occasion to be know by professional team scouts, coach, clubs and agent. Are you searching… Organized by james blessing erim | Type: football, trials
January 17, 2012 to April 24, 2012 – Lagos stat i am 5.8 ft and i am weighing 68. i am light in complexion. i am a mildfield. Organized by Adaka Ogaga Julius | Type: football, tryout, agent, scout, and, club
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Discover for free which first names would suit you or your baby !
Meaning of name Abderrahim
Etymology : Servant of the Merciful.
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Origin : Arabic
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Who is he?
Abderrahim is an active, virile and resourceful man who often appears distant and reserved at first, when in fact, he is just wary and a little nervous around those he doesn´t know and doesn´t open up straight away. But once reassured, he reveals himself to be straightforward, direct and sincere. He is the genuine article and can´t stand superficiality in others, while he possesses a strong sense of duty to those he loves. He is independent and his freedom is dear to him, somewhat allergic to restriction he enjoys challenging himself by taking calculated risks. However, he needs security and stability and is sometimes torn between his hankering for possession which leads him to conserve his acquisitions, and the desire to conquer his fears... Luckily, he is also rather adaptable, and this allows him to follow his dreams without too much anxiety. Even so, he can be prone to stress and needs to stay active in order to dispense his excess energy. This could be expressed by a high mobility and adaptability, through taking part in a sport, frequent travel or a large capacity for work. Although Abderrahim is a man of action, he is also quite capable of curbing his enthusiasm and resisting his impulses. After all, he is characterized by his strength of will and authoritative air, which bestow him with a certain charisma. As a child, he is already ambitious and is prepared to go to great lengths in order to win. Bubbly and energetic, curious and excitable, he can be unpredictable and a bit of a fidget (especially if he was born in May or has a life Path Number of 5). He is nonetheless usually quite sensible, although he isn´t particularly demonstrative where his feelings are concerned. It would be a good idea to help him develop a sense of sharing, because he tends to be egotistical and capricious.
What does he like?
Abderrahim feels the need to impress and be admired by others, loves being the centre of attention and is prepared to provide a lot of effort to achieve these ends. He appreciates all that is big or beautiful, as well as anything that is in line with this desire for greatness. Ladies, you may already have noticed that this man is not without a certain charm. He seeks the security of a home and a family but he also requires a certain amount of magic and fantasy in his life... Finally, when in a relationship, he can have difficulty accepting his position of "master" being questioned.
Get your free Personality test card now !!
What does he do?
Abderrahim needs to find a profession that motivates him, and is likely to be attracted to careers in sales and marketing, advertising, mobile occupations directly or indirectly connected with travel, professions in relation to the natural sciences, accuracy and nature, the independent professions, in connection with aesthetics, art and design, or management positions.
Discover others boys first names : Abacuc Abaddon Abailard
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It sometimes happens that two different first names have the same meaning. This has nothing surprising: both first names have the same figures of numerology. It is as in astrology: two persons belonging to the same sign present the same characteristic...
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Your Name Horoscope !
Thanks to the numerology, we propose you daily a horoscope personalized for your first name. Love, money , Shape: discover what waits for you for today. In Bonus every day find your daily lucky figure .. Horoscope of the first names
Love :Couples: It's time to settle your differences Abderrahim. May the best man or woman win. Singles: A change of look could help you feel good in the skin you're in which could be handy if bump into someone special.
Money :You are about to reap the rewards of all your efforts. Enjoy.
Health:You need a holiday Abderrahim, you're completely exhausted!
Your Lucky number : 12


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Miss Lillie's Guest Book
Description: Guest book from the French Legation Museum (formerly the Republic of Texas French Embassy) containing the signatures of visitors as well as their towns of origin and dates that they visited the museum. There is a photograph of the museum on the front with a caption explaining its origins. Additionally, there is a newspaper clipping pasted into the book before the start of the register from 1924 entitled "The Register At The French Embassy" describing the history of the guest book.
Date: unknown
Item Type: Refine your search to only Book
Partner: French Legation Museum


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Last time, I painted a fairly bleak picture of what it was like to work at RTW, leaving me with an uncomfortable problem: why did so many smart people put up with these problems? There are fundamentally two reasons: complacency, and love of what we did. In this post, a few words on complacency.
It's perhaps best summed up by our own words, the blurb from the graduate recruitment section of our website. It's still on our website as I write this, but I'm going to quote it in full as presumably it will disappear at some point soon!
If you're looking for your first job in games, it's worth thinking very carefully about your future employer. Do you want to work on jaded, derivative titles that receive scathing reviews and go straight to the bargain bin? Do you want to work large amounts of unpaid overtime because your project is underfunded and poorly managed? Do you want to work on codebases that are messy and poorly-designed because there's never time to do things properly? Do you want to live in fear of your company's financial security?
It's sad that these and other games industry horror stories are more frequent than they should be, but it's not like that here. We only work on original, ambitious projects: our first title, Crackdown, was a number-one hit, winning critical acclaim and multiple awards, and our best is yet to come, beginning with our first online game, APB. And while making games is great fun, we take our work seriously. We pride ourselves on our unusually sensible, sustainable and professional development practices, resulting in smoothly-run projects and far less overtime than is normal for many game developers. We're passionate about engineering and crafting our games to the highest of standards. We cultivate an open working environment where ideas are valued on their own merits, no matter whose they are. The growth of our company and size of our projects allows us to provide a wide range of opportunities. And the investment we've raised puts us in a strong financial position with security and creative control over our projects.
Ouch, ouch, ouch. I don't know if a comic writer could have hand-crafted a more deliciously ironic piece for us. And yes, complacency did stray into arrogance at times.
From the creator of Lemmings and GTA!
For a long time, Realtime Worlds cultivated an air of success about the office. Raising $100m sounds pretty cool on paper, we all walked past the Crackdown awards cabinet each morning, the press were excited about APB and we had Dave who apparently could do no wrong.
But after the investment, we lost our scrappy startup mentality and used our money to build this highly "corporate" culture, mimicking an established, successful organisation. We lost our hunger, our fear of failure, our focus on staying lean and making do, on building the simplest thing that could possibly work. The external signs of success were everywhere but the driving force was gone. We forgot to tell ourselves that the investment was just a small step towards success, not to be confused with success itself.
The complacency showed through in so many ways. We were complacent about game design, papering over APB's obvious shortcomings and telling ourselves it would somehow come together at the last minute before release (an argument that was strengthened by the experience of seeing Crackdown do just that). We were complacent about business planning, deciding to spend all our investment getting APB to launch, assuming that we would sell zillions of copies and over-spending on server hardware. When we were told we were being made redundant, we were told something along the lines of "the market is just so bad right now … we could never have predicted this … even our worst sales projections were so much higher than this". I think that was supposed to be consolation but it was just complacent, and dumb.
It's a gross generalisation to say the whole company was complacent. It's deeply unfair to a few pockets of incredibly passionate, hungry developers that worked their socks off and created some amazing stuff – like APB's character customisation system, and its super-reliable back-end software, to name just a couple (apologies to all the other good examples of work I missed). Sadly, it was not enough to overcome the problems.
The investment and Crackdown's success were obviously contributors to complacency. Another reason is that we forgot to wear tin foil hats … because
Dave has his own reality distortion field
I was reading "The Pixar Touch" recently, when I came across these passages about Steve Jobs:
We'd have to deprogram our troops after he had made a visit, because he has this charisma. When he starts talking, he just takes people's minds. He would start talking to the Pixar people and I would just see their judgmental faculties go away. They would just sit there and look at this guy with what I would describe as love in their eyes.
– Alvy Ray Smith
And yet when we would go down to a meeting with Steve, he would be so convinced that this [3D rendering] had Everyman potential that he would talk tough to you. He would say how this was really like PostScript and that we can have it in every printer, we can follow the Adobe model. So while you are in the room with him, you're thinking, Well, yeah, that's true … But when you get back to the real world, you realise, I know that wasn't going to work.
– Pam Kerwin
There was something quite eerie about reading this, because this is exactly what Dave Jones does to people. I hadn't heard about it before, but it turns out Steve Jobs' "Reality Distortion Field" is famous.
Dave's version was also famous, amongst people who'd worked with him before. There was a running joke from the old DMA days, that everyone should don their tin foil hats when Dave entered the room, to block his mind-control rays. There's an old picture from the DMA office of them all sitting with tin foil hats on, although I couldn't find it. If anyone has it, send me the link and I'll do an update and stick it here because I seem to remember it being pretty funny.
Unfortunately, Reality Distortion Fields do not provide total mind control. They can convince people to believe anything, but they cannot direct people's efforts. Once we became over-sized, I think Dave really struggled to direct our projects as he'd have liked. Our best efforts were in our early days when we were small – Crackdown, the early builds of APB including the core of the customisation system, and the prototype of MyWorld that essentially won the initial investment. That last prototype was built by Mike Dailly all on his own, and represented perhaps the best outcome-to-effort ratio of anything we ever did. The contrast with our 20-person committee meetings to review APB builds could not have been more stark. I genuinely felt sorry for Dave in some of those.
The Reality Distortion Field was a double-edged sword for us. I'm pretty sure it was a big part of us raising $100m. It also obviously contributed to our complacency. If anything ever reached crisis point, Dave was always, always able to convince people that everything would be ok. I think at times this prevented us from actually taking problems as seriously as we should have.
I don't blame Dave for that though; it's a brilliant skill to have and I don't think he ever wielded it maliciously. We were the fools for not staying hungry.
Finishing up
I'm going to put together one more post. As I mentioned at the start of this one, part of the reason we put up with the bad stuff is that we loved what we did. For all the frustration that I've poured out over the last three posts, I had an amazing time over my 6 years at RTW. While I regret not doing more to help fix our problems, and am deeply disappointed by our failure, I don't regret taking part in the adventure. I learned a huge amount, met some incredible people, and fully intend to leave my retrospective on a high note 🙂


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XF23mmF2 into the stardom
The FUJINON XF23mmF2 is in stores now.
It is already in hands of the eager users, pairing perfectly with their X-Pro2 or X-T2 body. Images taken with the lens are starting to float around the web, too.
Let's look back where this new lens stands in the XF Lens lineup.
It's the product planner's primary focus to create the future of our product line. When we plan a future XF lens, we often look at similar lenses from our competitors and listen to the feedback of users to learn the good and the bad. With this feedback in mind, we brainstorm ways to make our new lenses a perfect amalgamation of aesthetics, character and flavor.
The XF23mmF2 R WR was a special case, however. We had to look beyond just analyzing our competitor's lenses and had to focus internally.
Yes, there already exists the XF23mmF1.4 R. There also exists the ever-popular X100 Series of digital cameras that has the same focal length. Until the announcement of XF23mmF2, many X-Photographers referred the X100 lens as the "XF23mmF2".
Each lens has its own unique character, and as product planners and designers, we had to seriously consider what differentiates this new XF23mmF2.
Firstly, and perhaps obviously, the XF23mmF2 R WR is a superb lens. It is sharp to the corner and has excellent depth of field. It renders an image with lots of information. If you shoot with the X-Pro2's OVF, you will discover that the optical view and the actual image is quite similar, making it perfect for street photography and snapshots.
Let's compare it with the image quality of XF23mmF1.4.
The XF23mmF1.4 renders images quite differently on the peripherals in front and back of the depth of field for the same F value. XF23mmF2 renders images with lots of information, which is a plus for snapshooters. XF23mmF1.4 renders dynamic image with added depth, which is a characteristic of large diameter lens.
The lens is also quite different from the X100. When you compare it, you will learn that X100 is quite a character. It renders a very soft image with the aperture wide open or when shot in close distance. But with the aperture closed, it renders very sharp image. The XF23mmF2 renders images that is very constant. X100 renders images that is very varying.
There are advantages to having the soft image with the aperture wide open and in close-up. The viewing is very pleasing in print, for example. You forget it when you only look at pixel levels.
The well behaved XF23mmF2 and the distinctive X100, both are very important element for photography. You cannot just pick one. Luckily both are very compact in size.
One is focal plane shutter and another is lens shutter. Carrying both lens with the same focal length may not be so much of a bad idea either.
It is no suprise that the XF23mmF1.4 R has richer bokeh with greater depth of field, and that the characteristics of the X100 Series creates soft images at open aperture. Both options provide excellent results, and the newest member of the family is no exception: the XF23mmF2 R WR delivers sharp images with fast autofocus for all F values. Boasting a weather-resistance that sets it apart, the XF23mmF2 fits perfectly into the FUJINON XF Lens family, offering operability and aesthetic similar to its XF35mmF2 brother.


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Stockton - 86, Farmingdale State - 69
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Junior forward Josh Blamon (Cinnaminson, N.J.) scored a game-high 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting as Stockton earned an 86-69 non-conference victory at Farmingdale State. The Ospreys improved to 7-1 on the year, while the Rams fell to 4-3.
Leading 25-15 with 7:28 left in the first half, Stockton scored on three straight possessions to increase the advantage to 17 points, 32-15. Farmingdale State answered with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 34-25 with 3:21 remaining. The Ospreys took a 41-28 lead into the break as Blamon led the way with 16 points after shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
Stockton opened the second half on a 16-5 run and held their largest lead of the game at 57-33. Trailing 75-48 with under eight minutes to play, a 9-2 Rams run highlighted by a Justin Bailey (Jamaica, N.Y.) 3-pointer and layup put Farmingdale State down 20. Stockton led by as many as 26 over the final minutes en route to the 86-69 non-conference victory.
Senior center Donald Lawes (Queens, N.Y.) led the Rams with a team-high 15 points and six blocks, while freshman forward Weldon Irvine (Queens, N.Y.) scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and added eight boards.
Blamon was 6-for-6 from behind the arc for Stockton, while senior forward Nnamdi Usuwa (Avenel, N.J.) had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Rams next will host Yeshiva in a Skyline Conference game on Tuesday, December 17th at 8:00 p.m.


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Prof. Dr. Kees van Kersbergen
1984 Master in Political Science, University of Amsterdam
1991 Ph.D. European University Institute (cum laude), Florence
1984–1987 Scientific Assistant at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam
1987–1991 Researcher at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the European University Institute, Florence
1989–1991 Research Assistant at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the European University Institute, Florence
1991–1997 Associate Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
1997–2003 Full professor ("gewoon hoogleraar") of Political Science at the Nijmegen School of Management of Nijmegen University
2003–2007 Director of the research programme of the Centre for Comparative Social Studies (CCSS) of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
since 2003 Full professor ("gewoon hoogleraar") of Political Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
since 2004 Head of Department, Department of Political Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Grants, Prizes, Fellowships
1987–1991 Grant of the Dutch Ministry of Education and of the European Community to conduct a PhD Research at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy
1996 Seventh Stein Rokkan Prize in Comparative Social Science by the International Social Science Council, the Universidad Candido Mendes and the European Consortium for Political Research
1996 Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute, Florence
1997 Honory Professorship, P.W. Segers-chair, Centre for Social Policy, Antwerp University
1997 Visiting Professor at the Department of Political Science and the Center for European Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2001 Grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) to write a background study for the strategic research policy of NWO
2001 Research grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for a collaborative research project (universities of Leiden, Nijmegen and Utrecht)
2006 Visiting professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
2006–2010 Grant of the National Dutch Science Foundation (NWO) to write the concluding study of the Shifts in Governance programme (declined)
Function within the Center
Alumnus of the Institute for Advanced Study Konstanz (January-October 2008)
about the Institute for Advanced Study
Research Project "Religion and Politics"
Selected Publications
Religion, Class Coalitions and Welfare States. New York: Cambridge University Press (Series on Social Theory, Religion and Politics) (2009).
Expansion and Fragmentation. Internationalization, Political Change and the Transformation of the Nation State, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, (ed. with Robert H. Lieshout en Grahame Lock) (1999).
Social Capitalism. A Study of Christian Democracy and the Welfare State, London/New York: Routledge (1995).
Refereed Articles/Chapters
Interests, Identity and Political Allegiance in the European Union, Acta Politica, 42, 2: 307–28 (with Catherine E. de Vries) (2007).
Why and How Do Political Actors Pursue Risky Welfare State Reforms?, Journal of Theoretical Politics, 19, 2: 153–72 (with Barbara Vis) (2007).
The Politics of International Norms. Subsidiarity and the Imperfect Competence Regime of the European Union, European Journal of International Relations, 13, 2: 217–38 (with Bertjan Verbeek) (2007).
Subsidiarity as a Principle of Governance in the European Union, Comparative European Politics, 2, 2: 142–162 (with Bertjan Verbeek) (2004).
"Governance" as a Bridge between Disciplines: Cross-Disciplinary Inspiration Regarding Shifts in Governance and Problems of Governability, Accountability and Legitimacy, European Journal of Political Research, 43, 2: 143–171 (with Frans van Waarden) (2004).
Welfare State Reform and Political Allegiance, The European Legacy, 8, 5: 559–571 (2003).
Political Allegiance and European Integration, European Journal of Political Research, 37, 1, 2000: 1–17 (2000).
Contemporary Christian Democracy and the Demise of the Politics of Mediation, in H. Kitschelt, G. Marks, P. Lange and J.D. Stephens (eds), Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 346–70 (1999).


text:
KGBH Script
This is the transcript of the KGBH radio station in Grand Theft Auto 2.
Woman: KGBH, in fantastic medium wave!
Bomba Tomba: [Talking to someone away from the mic] ..Let me read my advertisements. Okay. [Now speaking into mic] Special price cabbage: Two for buck. I bought one supply this morning only. Is very good for digestion, makes you do all kinds of lifting things with your butt.
(Music starts, suddenly stops)
Bomba Tomba: My tape machine's broken... This not good. Okay, this never work. I- I break his legs this bastard give me this piece of.. shit.. idiot-
(The music starts again)
Bomba Tomba: ..It's working now. This very good. Here we having now with radio.. eh.. Ah! This is announcement, I must give you announcement. This is, has anyone seen green Silverado stolen from outside my house? Eight clock ten, no, ten o'clock last night. I was little drunk and forgot were I left. It could be anywhere... Uh-
(The music stops again)
Bomba Tomba: What? Hey, come on, what do you want? I'm on the air right now! What are you asking me what ques- Ah! [Starts almost laughing while speaking] Forget it, forget the last message, we found the car. [Speaking normally now] Okay, requests..!
(Music starts again)
Bomba Tomba: Well, Boris Mirsh was twelve today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY BORIS!! He got computer game and cake. Eh, Boris, Boris, sell the game, eat the cake.
Woman: KGBH, where the big noise isss...
("Surf City" from Cow Tastes Good plays)
Bomba Tomba: Whoooooo yeah! This very very nice.. this very nice. I- I am very much liking my.. own radio station. I just have a little dedication to make to my wife Vanda. Vanda, I want to say, I'm sorry I didn't make home last night. I was very much drinking, I did not make it, I want to make it but I hope you make me dinner still because I like your borscht. Is very good.. and I also the little potatoes-
Prodo: (Interrupts while Bomba Tomba is speaking, Rhyming) He is funny and-
Bomba Tomba: (Continuing) you put with sour cream, and I come by for dinner later, okay? Now-
Prodo: (Rhyming again) He is funny and bright! Plays the music that I like! Bomba Tom-
(Both the music and Prodo get cut off)
Bomba Tomba: Music special for my wife. Special for my wife, I play SPECIAL for you.
(The previous song starts fading in)
Bomba Tomba: This is.. something that I've had very many years at home.. and this very nice piece...
(The songs ends)
Bomba Tomba: *ghaaasj* (Nervous) I don't have it.. I don't have.. I DON'T have piece!! Prodo, get over here, what you do with... This- where's my case? I had case with this piece! This not good. ForGET it! Forget, I can't- Sorry Wanda. I can't play this piece for you, but I want to give you something later private, okay?-
Man (could be either Prodo or Bomba Tomba): KGBH!
("Dazed and Confused" from Spangly Feet plays)
(Music stops and you hear Bomba Tomba messing around with a tape cartridge)
Bomba Tomba: This very good band! Is all chicks! This called "Nipples and Chains". Very good band- Uh, give me the track. Prodo!
(Dazed and Confused starts again)
Bomba Tomba: Prodo, come, pa- this very good- Never before heard on my radio station. You hear FIRST from Bomba Tomba. I give you the best! There is no other reason why you listen anywhere else. Don't even think abou- BREAK the radio dials. THIS is where you listen.
(Music is now at full volume and you hear Bomba Tomba speaking away from the mic)
Bomba Tomba: Okay, Prodo, come. What you do? Wait I need a drink, this is ridiculous over here. (slightly louder) You got some more vodka?
Prodo: Shh!
("Dazed and Confused" plays)
Woman: KGBH, on your own vibrrrra...
(The tape player stops)
Woman: KGBH, on y-
(The tape player stops)
Strange voice: Bomba Tomba. Bomba Tomba.
Bomba Tomba: A shipload of vodka just sunk, I'll be on air few minutes more then I'm- I'm not staying on air, this ridiculous! This vodka just sunk.. The vodka sunk! I'm going out of here! This- Look, Prodo, Prodo.. Pro- I'm leaving now! You stay here- Do it. I've been doing this for hours! You do it! I'm.. sick of this! Di-Ri-Ridiculous, you idiota. Forget-a! Prodo, if you listening- GET IN HERE! I'm going break your neck you little bastard prick! Get in here because now is your turn! Okay- This is Bomba Tomba, I say good night. This man, is- I am.. a man of my word I will kick your little.. spindley butt! Okay, this gone- I'm done. This, forget. I've got vodka down- If you want to get free vod- vodka, you have a snorkle and things like this and wetsuits come down we go getting some vodka.. Down at docks it slips.. anyway, I'm gone-
Prodo: (interrupting) If you read on the card you'll be cheating on your heart. Bomba Tombaaah, Bomba Tombaaah!
Woman: KGBH, good radio for all family and friendsss.
("F.A.G. Filter" by Tsunami starts)
Bomba Tomba: This KGBH Radio. This no nonsense radio station. If you get pissed off, you don't like station, you just change it. Don't listen, okay? It is- You don't want to listen, don't listen! Is- *blrpr*! This- This ridiculous! I don't have to listen to you, you don't listen to me! Just turn it off! But KGBH plays the best black market radio.


text:
|June 22, 2018
|8:00 pm
|Cerritos, CA
|Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center
|Google Map
An epic true story. This Tony Award-winning and celebrated Broadway musical is brilliantly stirring. A profoundly moving look at a sadly still relevant story of hatred rooted in the fear of those who are different, playwright Alfred Uhry and composer Jason Robert Brown brilliantly recreate the triumphs and failures of this historic real-life saga.
Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center