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Women outlive men, but in their twilight years, they're much more likely to fall below the poverty line. In fact, according to the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), the largest segment of the population living in poverty is made up of elderly females. (The average Social Security benefit for women is $800 per month, compared to $1,177 for men; this is due to less time spent in the workforce overall, explains UPI.) Says Cindy Hounsell, President of WISER: "With more years out of the workforce to care for family, combined with lower wages and a greater life expectancy, it's clear that simply being a woman in our society may jeopardize your financial security." And as a second new study shows, young women — and rightfully so — are much more anxious about being able to save for retirement, pay bills, and provide for children than their male counterparts.
Reuters reports: "Three of every 10 women were worried about their economic security, compared with two of every 10 men," according to a study funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and analyzed by the Institute for Women's Policy Research. "Two-thirds of women fear they are not saving enough for retirement, but only half of men share this concern." (Not surprisingly, single mothers and women of color are most likely to be anxious about their ability to pay bills; 48 percent of African-American women have had trouble getting their bills paid, compared to 42% of Hispanic women and 26% of white women.) Perhaps those who are late acquiring Mother's Day presents should take advice from UPI and forgo the flowers in favor of putting some hard cash in mom's IRA?
Caring For Family Can Make Women Poor [UPI]
U.S. Economic Anxiety Hits Women Harder: Study [Reuters]


text:
By David Ponce
Nothing says "I've been shopping at Thinkgeek!" like showing up at the office with a desk catapult. Or trebuchet. We're not sure. See, the rubber band says catapult, as does the fact that its mechanism relies on it. Also… the name. But that plastic "weight" at the bottom of the swing arm says trebuchet. We're going to side on catapult though, since a little plastic nubbin would probably not contribute much weight to anything. So yeah… nerdy discussion aside, what you have here is a device capable of throwing spiky foam balls at up to 40ft. That should be far enough to keep you occupied for an afternoon, after which you might have to spend some time explaining to HR why you spent the best part of a day running around the office picking up little foam balls from the floor.
It's $15.
[ Product Page ] VIA [ Uncrate ]

subset: commoncrawl


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Hope College junior Jon Van Wyngarden of Holland has been named the AmeriCorps "Member of the Month" for October for the state of Michigan.
He has received the honor from the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC), which funds the state's 19 AmeriCorps programs.
Van Wyngarden is beginning his second year as a part-time AmeriCorps member with Good Samaritan Ministries' "Faith in Youth" AmeriCorps program, which is a mentoring program serving children from the area's middle schools. His service site is Calvary Reformed Church, where he works with youth in the after-school program. He has been praised for his commitment to the families--children and parents alike--who live in the community and attend the program.
Van Wyngarden's involvement blends his career interest in working with children with his commitment to applying his faith to making a difference in his community. He is pursuing an elementary and English composite major at Hope, intending to teach in an area where he hopes to make a difference outside the classroom as well.
"I'm hoping to go on to some sort of urban, at-risk teaching in the future," he said. "I'm really passionate about Christian community development."
The "Faith in Youth" program operates out of five area churches, and includes several full- and part-time AmeriCorps members who in turn work with community volunteers in mentoring approximately 200 youth across all the sites. The overall goal is to improve the children's academic achievement and promote a sense of well-being, particularly for youth at-risk due to isolation or poverty.
Van Wyngarden noted that the program at Calvary Reformed has two primary components: a tutoring program and a mentoring program, both of which served about 20 children last year, beginning in November and January respectively.
He's found Hope a ready source of volunteers, and has recruited several peers to serve as tutors and mentors. He and a group of friends are even living near the church, the better to be a part of the neighborhood and interact with the children the program is serving.
"I decided to move off-campus with a few of the guys to be near the kids near here," he said. "There are just kids over at our apartment all the time."
He's appreciated seeing the difference that the mentoring program in particular has made in the children's lives. "That's been probably one of our best programs," he said. "Even just in a semester's time, we've seen such a huge improvement in their attitudes and socially."
Calvary Reformed is a familiar location for Van Wyngarden - it has been his home church while growing up in Holland. During his freshman year at Hope he worked with youth and outreach programs at Montello Park Christian Reformed Church before taking the AmeriCorps position at Calvary Reformed.
He is a 2005 graduate of Holland Christian High School, and the son of Robert and Susan Van Wyngarden. His activities at the college have also included InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; the College Chorus, Orchestra and Symphonette; intramurals; and Ultimate Frisbee.
AmeriCorps is a national service program that strengthens communities by involving people in service to meet local challenges. The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) administers AmeriCorps at the federal level and partners with states to fund national service programs locally.


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€9.95 €29.95
All returns must be made within 14 days. Just inform us by email and we'll send you our return adress. Please note we can't take back sale items or items that that have been worn already. If you want to exchange for another size or design, we'd have to charge for shipping again though.
Despatch time can be 1 to 5 working days, depending on how busy it is at the office. Please don't worry if you haven't had it shortly after the order, we're on it for sure! That's a promise!
Inspired by the skateboard & street culture, Death Shred creates rad-ass clothing and causes trouble worldwide since '08. Fuck yeah.


text:
It's been another year of amazing photos, headlines and stories on Celebrity Baby Scoop!
'Tis the season to choose the best – and worst! – of 2013 in our 6th Annual Readers' Choice Awards. Watch our 'Daily Poll' and cast your vote. Today's category: Favorite New Baby.
Continue reading to vote on the categories so far…
Most Transformed by Motherhood in 2013
Favorite Celebrity Mom of 2013
Favorite Celebrity Dad of 2013
Favorite Celebrity Parents of 2013
Spread the word and invite your friends to vote in Celebrity Baby Scoop's 6th Annual Readers' Choice Awards on Facebook & Twitter with the trending topic #CBSReadersChoiceAwards.


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On Saturday, March 10, 2012, I'll be presenting "Table Vars and Temp Tables – What you NEED to know!" at SQL Saturday #110 in Tampa, FL. Come out and join me in this code filled session, where we'll discover the differences and similarities of Temporary Tables and Table Variables, dispel some widespread myths about each, and answer the most important questions of them all, "When do I use one or the other and what are the various impacts of doing so?"
I'm really blessed to have been selected for this event – there were hundreds of sessions submitted by many presenters. Let's hope that they really like this session so that I will be invited back.
Personally, I'm very happy about this for another reason… my wonderful mother-in-law lives in the area, so I'll get to visit with her for the weekend also. (And for those questioning… yes, she is that great!)


text: Global Politics Families of Filipino World War II vets largely still waiting for visa, dozen years later The World April 10, 2013 Filipinos make us the second largest group of immigrants to the United States. Many came after serving in the U.S. military during World War II. But because there are so many, getting visas to bring adult family members to the United States can be nearly impossible -- with the wait for most stretching a dozen years or more.


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New Yorkers' experience of the transportation system has changed since the current mayor took office. That is clear from the newly released mayor's management report, which emphasizes the administration's accomplishments, but in fact presents both good and bad news.
(Except as noted, all figures compare fiscal year 2004, which ended this past June, with fiscal year 2001, during which the mayor took office.)
* Traffic fatalities declined by 15 percent to 330. There were declines in every category: motorists/passengers, bicyclists/pedestrians and those related to driving while intoxicated. New York City now has about one-half the number of traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents as do Los Angeles and Cook County (which includes Chicago).
* Bridges that are rated very good or good increased from 14.7 percent to 27.8 percent as a result of comprehensive preventive maintenance and rehabilitation programs. Subway service on the Manhattan Bridge doubled as a decade-plus of work on that bridge was completed. However, the amount of bridge painting - a simple but essential maintenance function - declined by 17 percent.
* Slightly fewer people are running red lights at camera-equipped intersections: Notices of Liability issued from red light cameras declined seven percent.
* Travel time on through streets in Midtown declined by about two minutes, to six minutes and 31 seconds since launch of the program in October 2002. The Thru Streets program restricts some vehicular turns off of nine streets between 34th and 60th streets on weekdays from 10 am to 6 pm.
* One hundred percent of intersections have LED lenses and international pedestrian signals; there were none three years ago. The LEDs are brighter, use less electricity and last longer than their predecessors.
* Streets maintained with a pavement rating of "Good" fell from 82.2 percent to 74.3 percent. Ratings declined in all boroughs even as the number of pothole repairs increased by 57 percent, to 190,000.
* The cleanliness rating of city-franchised, privately operated buses dropped from 96.8 percent to 70 percent. City officials blamed this decline on labor issues and the pending (and repeatedly postponed) transfer of the program from the city Department Of Transportation to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
* Average response time to traffic signal defects increased from one hour 37 minutes to two hours and 35 minutes. These are required to be fixed within two hours.
* On-time trips on the Staten Island ferry declined from 97 percent to 93.4 percent due to heightened security procedures, mechanical problems on aging boats, terminal construction and a fatal accident in October 2003.
* Taxicab service complaints increased 46 percent. This increase might be in part due to greater public awareness of the 311 complaint number, which began taking taxi complaints last October. But the profile of complaint by type suggests that service quality worsened in some areas but not others. Complaints for service refusals increased by 59 percent; for violation of traffic rules complaints increased by 59 percent. Complaints for overcharging increased by much less (16 percent) and the number of complaints about rude or abusive cab drivers was essentially unchanged.
* "Adoption" by businesses of arterial highway segments fell from 93.1 percent of the system to 62.2 percent. The business community evidenced a lack of interest in this program to sponsor the cleaning of highway segments.
About the same
* Operable on-street parking meters as a percentage of all meters inched up from 90.7 percent to 91.6 percent. The chance of finding a non-working parking meter was essentially unchanged as the percentage of parking meters that are electronic nearly doubled, from 58 percent to 96 percent. Evidently, the electronic meters work just as well as the old mechanical parking meters.
Better or worse? - depends on your point of view
* Summonses issued for moving violations fell by 11 percent to 1,252.
* Parking violation summonses increased by 16 percent to 8,859 summonses. The number issued by police officers declined slightly, more than offset by increased issuance by parking enforcement officers.
* Vehicle tows increased by 13 percent to 117,189.
Bruce Schaller is head of Schaller Consulting, which provides research and analysis about transportation, and is also a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University.


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The following sections discuss the Field Manipulation Language (FML) and describe how the Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector uses FML.
Using the XmlFmlCnv Class for XML to and From FML/FML32 Translation
Note:For more information about using FML, see Programming a Tuxedo ATMI Application Using FML at
FML is a set of java language functions for defining and manipulating storage structures called fielded buffers. Each fielded buffer contains attribute-value pairs in fields. For each field:
The attribute is the field's identifier.
The associated value represents the field's data content.
An occurrence number.
There are two types of FML:
FML16 based on 16-bit values for field lengths and identifiers. It is limited to 8191 unique fields, individual field lengths of 64K bytes, and a total fielded buffer size of 64K bytes.
FML32 based on 32-bit values for the field lengths and identifiers. It allows for about 30 million fields, and field and buffer lengths of about 2 billion bytes.
Note:The Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector implements a subset of FML functionality. For more information regarding FML32, refer to FML32 Considerations.
The FML application program interface (API) is documented in the
weblogic.wtc.jatmi package included in the Javadocs for WebLogic Server Classes.
Field tables are generated in a manner similar to Oracle Tuxedo field tables. The field tables are text files that provide the field name definitions, field types, and identification numbers that are common between the two systems. To interoperate with an Oracle Tuxedo system using FML, the following steps are required:
Copy the field tables from the Oracle Tuxedo system to Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector environment.
For example: Your Oracle Tuxedo distribution contains a bank application example called
bankapp. It contains a file called
bankflds that has the following structure:
#Copyright (c) 1990 Unix System Laboratories, Inc. #All rights reserved #ident "@(#) apps/bankapp/bankflds $Revision: 1.3 $" # Fields for database bankdb # name number type flags comments ACCOUNT_ID 110 long - - ACCT_TYPE 112 char - - ADDRESS 109 string - - . . .
Converted the field table definition into Java source files. Use the
mkfldclass utility supplied in the
weblogic.wtc.jatmi package. This class is a utility function that reads a FML32 Field Table and produces a Java file which implements the FldTbl interface. There are two instances of this utility:
Use the correct instance of the command to convert the
bankflds field table into FML32 java source. The following example uses mkfldclass.
java weblogic.wtc.jatmi.mkfldclass bankflds
The resulting file is called
bankflds.java and has the following structure:
import java.io.*; import java.lang.*; import java.util.*; import weblogic.wtc.jatmi.*; public final class bankflds implements weblogic.wtc.jatmi.FldTbl { /** number: 110 type: long */ public final static int ACCOUNT_ID = 33554542; /** number: 112 type: char */ public final static int ACCT_TYPE = 67108976; /** number: 109 type: string */ public final static int ADDRESS = 167772269; /** number: 117 type: float */ . . .
Compile the resulting
bankflds.java file using the following command:
javac bankflds.java
The result is a
bankflds.class file. When loaded, the Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector uses the class file to add, retrieve and delete field entries from an FML32 field.
Add the field table class file to your application CLASSPATH.
Update your
WTCServer MBean.
Update the
WTCResources MBean to reflect the fully qualified location of the field table class file.
Use the keywords required to describe the FML buffer type: fml16 or fml32.
You can enter multiple field table classes in a comma separated list.
For example:
<wtc-resources> <name>BankappResources</name> <fld-tbl16-class>my.bankflds</fld-tbl16-class> <fld-tbl16-class>your.bankflds</fld-tbl16-class> <fld-tbl16-class>more.bankflds</fld-tbl16-class> </wtc-resources>
Restart your Oracle WebLogic Server to load the field table class definitions.
Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector provides a property that provides an alternate method to compile FML tables. You may need to use the
DynRdHdr utility if:
You are using very large FML tables and the
.java method created by the mkfldclass32 class exceeds the internal Java Virtual Machine limit on the total complexity of a single class or interface.
You are using very large FML tables and are unable to load the class created when compiling the
.java method.
Use the following steps to use the
DynRdHdr property when compiling your FML tables:
Convert the field table definition into Java source files.
java -DDynRdHdr=Path_to_Your_FML_Table weblogic.wtc.jatmi.mkfldclass32 userTable
The arguments for this command are defined as follows:
|Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector property used to compile an FML table.
|Path name of your FML table. This may be either a fully qualified path or a relative path that can be found as a resource file using the server's CLASSPATH.
|This class is a utility function that reads an FML32 Field Table and produces a Java file which implements the FldTbl interface.
|Name of the
.java method created by the mkfldclass32 class.
Compile the
userTable file using the following command:
javac userTable.java
Add the
.class file to your application CLASSPATH.
Update the
WTCResources MBean to reflect the fully qualified location of the
.class file.
Target your WTCServer. The
.class is loaded when the WTCServer service starts.
Once you have created the
.class file, you can modify the FML table and deploy the changes without having to manually create an updated
.class. When the WTC Service is started, Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector will load the updated FML table using the location specified in the Resources tab of your WTC service configuration. If the
Path_to_Your_FML_Table attribute changes, you will need to use the preceding procedure to update your
.java and
.class files.
Two new constructors for TypedFML32 are available to improve performance. The following topic provides explanation as to when to use these constructors.
The constructors are defined in the Javadocs for WebLogic Server Classes.
To gain TypedFML32 performance improvements, you can choose to give size hints to TypedFML32 constructors. There are two parameters that are available to those constructor:
A parameter that hints for maximum number of fields. This includes all the occurrences.
A parameter for the total number of field IDs used in the buffer.
For instance, a field table used by the buffer contains 20 field IDs, and each field can occur 20 times. In this case, the first parameter should be 400 for the maximum number of fields. The second parameter should be 20 for the total number of field IDs.
TypeFML32 mybuffer = new TypeFML32(400, 20);
Note:This usually works well with any size of buffer; however, it does not work well with extremely small buffers.
If you have an extremely small buffer, use those constructor without hints. An example of an extremely small buffer is a buffer with less than 16 total occurrences. If the buffer is extremely large, for example contains more than 250000 total field occurrences, then the application should consider splitting it into several buffers smaller than 250000 total field occurrences.
Note:The data type specified must be FLAT or NO. If any other data type is specified, the redirection fails.
TranslateFML element of the WTCtBridgeRedirect MBean is used to indicate if FML32 translation is performed on the message payload. There are two types of FML32 translation: FLAT and NO.
The message payload is translated using the Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector internal FML32/XML translator. Fields are converted field-by-field values without knowledge of the message structure (hierarchy) and repeated grouping.
In order to convert an FML32 buffer to XML, the tBridge pulls each instance of each field in the FML32 buffer, converts it to a string, and places it within a tag consisting of the field name. All of these fields are placed within a tag consisting of the service name. For example, an FML32 buffer consisting of the following fields:
The resulting XML buffer would be:
No translation is used.
For JMS to Oracle Tuxedo, the tBridge maps a JMS TextMessage into an Oracle Tuxedo TypedBuffer (TypedString) and vice versa depending on the direction of the redirection. JMS BytesMessage are mapped into Oracle Tuxedo TypedBuffer (TypedCarray) and vice versa.
For Oracle Tuxedo to JMS, passing an FML/FML32 buffer behaves as if
translateFML is set to
FLAT. Therefore, in this case, setting
translateFML to
NO has no effect and if the Oracle Tuxedo buffer is of type FML/FML32, the translation takes place automatically.
Remember to consider the following information when working with FML32:
For XML input, the root element is required but ignored.
For XML output, the root element is always <FML32>.
The field table names must be loaded as described in FML Field Table Administration.
The tBridge translator is capable of only "flat" or linear grouping. This means that information describing FML32 ordering is not maintained, therefore buffers that contain a series of repeating data could be presented in an unexpected fashion. For example, consider a FML32 buffer that contains a list of parts and their associated price. The expectation would be PART A, PRICE A, PART B, PRICE B, etc. however since there is no structural group information contained within the tBridge, the resulting XML could be PART A, PART B, etc., PRICE A, PRICE B, etc.
When translating XML into FML32, the translator ignores
STRING values. For example,
<STRING></STRING> is skipped in the resulting FML32 buffer. All other types cause WTC to log an error resulting in translation failure.
Embedded FML is not supported in this release.
Embedded VIEW fields within FML32 buffers are supported in this release.
TypedCArray is supported for FML/FML32 to XML conversion. Select from the following list of supported field types:
If you need to pass binary data, encode to a field type of your choice and decode the XML on the receiving side.
If you need to use CARRAY fields in an XML input buffer, you must first encode the content using base64. You must decode the base64 data after it is received and before it is processed by an application.
An alternative option to using the tBridge to automatically translate XML buffers to and from FML/FML32 is to use the
XmlFmlCnv class which supports ordering, grouping and beautifying functionality. The following code listing is an example that uses the
XmlFmlCnv class for conversion to and from XML buffer formats.
import weblogic.wtc.jatmi.TypedFML32; import weblogic.wtc.jatmi.FldTbl; import weblogic.wtc.gwt.XmlFmlCnv; public class xml2fml { public static void main(String[] args) { String xmlDoc = "<XML><MyString>hello</MyString></XML>"; TypedFML32 fmlBuffer = new TypedFML32(new MyFieldTable()); XmlFmlCnv c = new XmlFmlCnv(); fmlBuffer = c.XMLtoFML32(xmlDoc, fmlBuffer.getFieldTables()); String result = c.FML32toXML(fmlBuffer); System.out.println(result); } }
See Class XmlFmlCnv.
TypedMBString object can be used almost identically as a
TypedString object in a WTC application code. The only difference is that
TypedMBString has a codeset encoding name associated to the string data.
This section includes the following topics.
When an Oracle Tuxedo message that contains an MBSTRING data is sent to another Oracle Tuxedo domain,
TypedMBString uses the conversion function of
java.lang.String class to convert between Unicode and an external encoding. The
TypedMBString has a codeset encoding name associated to the string data.
When a
TypedMBString object is created by a WTC application code, the encoding name is set to null. The null value of the encoding name means that the default encoding name is used for Unicode string to byte array conversion while sending the MBSTRING data to a remote domain. By default, the Java's default encoding name for byte array string is used for the default encoding name.You can specify encoding or accept the default encoding. The following order defines the order of precedence for
Specify the encoding name by
setMBEncoding() method.
Specify the encoding name through the
setDefaultMBEncoding() method of
weblogic.wtc.jatmi.MBEncoding class.
Specify the encoding name through the
RemoteMBEncoding attribute of the
MBENCODINGPROPERTY system property value.
Accept the Java default encoding name.
When an Oracle Tuxedo message that contains an MBSTRING data is received from a remote domain, the following actions take place.
WTC determines the encoding of the MBSTRING data by the codeset
tcm in the received message.
WTC creates a
TypedMBString object.
TypedMBString object can be used almost identically as a
TyepdString object in WTC application code. However, the TypedMBString has a codeset encoding name associated to the string data.
WTC passes the
TypedMBString object to the WTC application code. The application code knows the encoding of the received MBSTRING data by the instance method
FLD_MBSTRING is a field type added to
TypedFML32. In this case, a
TypedMBString object is passed to the
TypedFML32 method as the associated object type of FLD_MBSTRING. You can specify the encoding name used for the MBSTRING conversion for a FLD_MBSTRING field.
The following order defines the order of precedence for TypedFML32.
Specify the encoding name by
setMBEncoding() method of the TypedMBString object for the field.
Specify the encoding name by
setMBEncoding() method of the TypedFML32 object.
Specify the encoding name through the
setDefaultMBEncoding() method of
weblogic.wtc.jatmi.MBEncoding class.
Specify the encoding name through the
RemoteMBEncoding attribute of the
MBENCODINGPROPERTY system property value.
Accept the Java default encoding name.
Note:The following methods must be updated when using FLD_MBSTRING:
Fget(), and
The on-demand encoding methods and auto-conversion methods needed in Oracle Tuxedo, such as
Fmbpack32() and
Fmbunpack32() are not needed by Oracle WebLogic Tuxedo Connector.


text:
The contractor that vetted Washington Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis is the same firm that vetted national security secrets leaker Edward Snowden, the firm said.
USIS, under criminal investigation over whether it misled Washington about its background checks' thoroughness, originally denied it did a check on Alexis, The Washington Post said.
Alexis, a former Navy reservist, killed 12 people at the Navy Yard Monday before being killed by police. Union representatives for first responders said Thursday radios for federal firefighters and police officers failed during the initial response, forcing officers "to use their cellphone to just call out and tell them what's going on," Anthony Meely, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police Naval District Washington Labor Committee, told The Hill.
The investigative company -- the largest private provider of government background checks -- explained its reversal by saying it got new information Thursday.
"Today we were informed that in 2007, USIS conducted a background check of Aaron Alexis for [the U.S. Office of Personnel Management]," the Falls Church, Va., firm, said.
Alexis joined the Navy in 2007.
"We are contractually prohibited from retaining case information gathered as part of the background checks we conduct for OPM and therefore are unable to comment further on the nature or scope of this or any other background check," said the company, which was OPM's investigative branch until it was spun off in 1996 as U.S. Investigations Services Inc.
It's now part of Altegrity Inc., owned by Providence Equity Partners LLC.
Alexis had a secret security clearance that let him get an access card needed to get onto the Navy base. Such clearances typically remain valid for 10 years.
There is no indication USIS did anything wrong when it vetted Alexis, OPM said in a statement.
OPM has "reviewed the 2007 background investigation file for Aaron Alexis, and the agency believes that the file was complete and in compliance with all investigative standards," said OPM's Federal Investigative Services division, which handles security checks for most federal agencies.
Government officials said this week the 2007 background check uncovered a 2004 incident when Alexis shot out a car's tires of a car, the Post said. The incident was considered "malicious mischief."
Later run-ins with law enforcement and reports of potentially serious mental-health issues occurred years after the 2007 background check.
USIS also handled the background investigation of National Security Agency leaker Snowden, who faces U.S. government charges, including espionage, and fled to Russia.
USIS told The Wall Street Journal three weeks ago the federal government raised no concerns about its work when it conducted a five-year "periodic re-investigation" of Snowden in February 2011.
The company said the NSA, not USIS, was ultimately responsible for approving or denying Snowden's security clearance.
USIS has been under investigation since late 2011, OPM Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Michelle B. Schmitz told a Senate hearing in June, shortly after Snowden's leaks were first published.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who heads the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, said Thursday she was outraged by the latest USIS revelation.
"From Edward Snowden to Aaron Alexis, what's emerging is a pattern of failure on the part of this company, and a failure of this entire system, that risks nothing less than our national security and the lives of Americans," McCaskill said in a statement.
"What's most frightening is that USIS performs a majority of background checks for our government," she said. "We clearly need a top-to-bottom overhaul of how we vet those who have access to our country's secrets and to our secure facilities. I plan to pursue such an overhaul."
Security clearance and background investigations for OPM cost taxpayers about $1 billion last year, an expense expected to rise to $1.2 billion by 2014, McCaskill's office said.


text:
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"Above The Earth, Below The Sky is one of 2009's strongest releases and is an artistically crafted sight/sound to behold. It swoops and dives and hurts and soothes and will blow your fucking mind..." — Strangeglue
"Simply put one of the most amazing post-rock instrumental records ever made and a stunning landscape of sound..." — The Punk Vault
"the band sounds great and creates stunning music..." — Ultimate Guitar
"This is music to end the world with, full of sadness as well as thundering rage and technical craftsmanship..." — The Silent Ballet
Zack Kelly:
Jeff Kalal: guitar
Tom Fihe: bass
Cody Kelly: guitar
Michael Socrates: guitar
"Ohio has long been known as a source of wonderful instrumental music: The Six Parts Seven, Silencio, and Mortimur, just to name a few, but people often overlook the fact that these bands develop independently of the rest of the country's instrumental bands. Six Parts Seven is one of the landmark instrumental bands in the US and Silencio was/is so unique that it's scary. If These Trees Could Talk happily joins the ranks amongst their buckeye brethren.
Although their debut EP follows the HydraHead and Neurot school of thought, it's fair to say it's not a direct result as much as they share common influences: Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and other progressively minded rock bands. If These Trees Could Talk is certainly a rock album, although the use of reverb and delay make the music very amicable to fans of "post-rock" music. The band's potential is just as large as its appeal — with a solid foundation to build upon, If These Trees Could Talk has a variety of viable options for its next record."


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GREEN- Nature ploy: Is Conservancy impeding dredge options?
Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport officials– including one of the key fundraisers working for an environmental group once known for free-market solutions– appear eager to downplay any role the Airport might play in dredging that could save the silt-choked Rivanna Reservoir even as entrepreneurs point to successful dredge-built runways in other cities.
Airport Commission member Gregory Edwards paid a personal visit to Airport director Barbara Hutchinson in late February to talk about dredging after a citizen suggested that dredging could save millions of dollars for water customers as well as the Airport, according to documents obtained by the Hook in a Freedom of Information request.
In a February 21 email to Airport board member and dredging opponent Gary O'Connell, Hutchinson noted that Edwards had paid her a personal visit to explain that it was "not appropriate to include the Airport in any water resource conversations, including conversations regarding dredging the reservoir."
Citizen Joe Mooney calls this conversation "surprising" considering that besides serving on the Airport Commission, Edwards is a fundraiser with the Nature Conservancy, an organization supposedly dedicated to thoughtful solutions to environmental problems. In Charlottesville, the Conservancy now finds itself in a role it once shunned: lobbyist.
Founded in 1951, the Conservancy shot to fame during the 1970s for its philanthropic approach to saving the environment. Rejecting traditional eco-approaches of bully pulpit (Sierra Club) or colorful demonstration (Greenpeace), the multi-billion-dollar-endowed Conservancy focused instead on simply paying for environmental salvation: purchasing easements on threatened properties and sometimes buying the properties outright.
But, as revealed by a series of investigative articles in the Washington Post five years ago, the Conservancy's free-market approach could veer toward free-wheeling, particularly when it made below-market land sales to donors and developers. Today, a chastened Conservancy bills itself as a "science-based" organization.
Such scientific interest has been apparent locally by the Conservancy serving as architect of a controversial $143 million water plan. Supporters point to its protection of historic stream flows in two rivers, but critics note the plan requires clear-cutting about 54,000 trees to create a new reservoir under I-64 as well as building an electricity-dependent pipeline and leaving the urban community's two existing reservoirs to silt up.
In a telephone interview, Edwards denies that he was trying to dissuade Hutchinson from using Rivanna sediment. He says was simply trying to tell Hutchinson that any dredging/Airport connection is "a premature question."
In January, the Airport publicly revealed an interest in expanding its main runway, a $50 million operation where much of the money might be expended to truck in fill. Dredging contractors say that airports routinely use dredged fill for new runways (New York's JFK is reportedly all fill), and Mooney has twice appeared before Charlottesville City Council to urge an investigation of pumping sediment from the Rivanna Reservoir two miles to the Airport, conceivably saving each entitity tens of millions of dollars.
Already, the Airport has missed such an opportunity when it trucked in nearly half a million cubic yards of fill for a 2004-2005 expansion. Edwards, however, contends that it's too early to formally explore such options for the next Airport expansion, which hasn't yet been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.
"You have to wait for the Airport plan to trudge along," says Edwards, "and see if there's a tie-in point."


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Events for July 27, 2020
Events Search and Views Navigation
3:00 pm
Hoppy Hour
Join our brewery for Happy Hour everyday starting at 3PM in Hillcrest, San Diego. It's one of the best beer happy hours in town.Find out more »
6:00 pm
Wings & Kill the Keg Mondays
Join HBC for 75¢ wings and $3 Kill the Keg pours featuring a new style every week. Plus we've got NFL games in HD with sound.Find out more »


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Capital Senior Living makes choosing an Independent Living, Assisted Living or Memory Care community as easy as possible for future residents. Our portfolio features more than 127 unique communities in 23 states all with thoughtfully designed floor plans, an array of desired amenities and world-class services to ensure a relaxed, enriching lifestyle in a supportive environment. All of our communities offer a number of conveniences that our residents appreciate in addition to the companionship most seek. Search now for a community in your desired state and city that fits your needs and requirements.
Discover true Texas hospitality at The Waterford at College Station, offering Assisted Living and Memory Care services in College Station, Texas, just minutes from Texas A&M University.


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Case vacanze
To the south of Biarritz, the Cité de l'Océan et du Surf is an educational, scientific and fun site, where you can learn all about theocean, in connection with the history and culture of Biarritz. Innovative in both its architectural design and its content, as you follow the interactive route you get a vision of a living ocean, which must be respected by humans: how does it work? What are its moods, its weaknesses? This interactive museum uses all the latest technology so you can experience the oceans in a whole new way.
This is an absolute must-see for all those who love the ocean, or are just a little curious about what's really under the sea.
Discover, in this centre of marine activity, a display of fish and invertebrate species from the Gulf of Gascoigne, learn about the different fishing techniques of the region, and all about marine history from the Basque coast; admire scale models of ships, and wonder at fascinating things from the bottom of the sea... And prepare yourself to come face to face with the sharks in the shark cave!
Don't miss the opportunity to feed the seals right by the terrace.
And to celebrate the year of biodiversity, the Museum of the Sea in Biarritz houses an exhibition entitled Sea birds from the gulf of Gascoigne, discovering its biodiversity.
The Rocher de la Vierge (The Rock of the Virgin Mary) named for the statue of the Holy Virgin placed on its summit in 1865, was used by Napoleon III as an anchoring point for the Port du Refuge (The Port of Refuge) dike that he planned to create.
Hence, the rock was made accessible to land via a wooden bridge and a tunnel was drilled that enabled the delivery of stone blocks used for the construction of the dam. The wooden bridge didn't withstand the test of time and Gustav Eiffel replaced it in 1887 with an iron bridge that is still in place.
The statue of the Virgin Mary was installed as a token of gratitude by whalers, saved from being shipwrecked by following a dazzling and mysterious light perceptible from the rock's summit.
The Grande Plage de Biarritz (The Big Beach) is without doubt the most popular beach with the tourists right in the heart of the Biarritz resort, attracting hordes of visitors seeking sun and sea. The most strenuous activity on this big beach is sunbathing in the shadow of the famous blue, yellow, green or red striped beach huts.
Sunbathers can enjoy splendid views of Biarritz Lighthouse without having to lift a finger. Biarritz Grande Plage fronts one of the resort's most well known landmarks, the luxurious Hôtel du Palais, built by Napoleon III for his wife Eugénie.
Biarritz is also a historic surfing capital and the Grande Plage de Biarritz is ideal for your debut as a surfer, before moving on to the bigger waves of the beach at the Basque Coast.
A decree dating back to 1289 allowing the running of oxen, cows and bulls through the streets of Bayonne is still in place today. It's the oldest written reference to bull running in the world!
Years later, in 1757, the city thought it prudent to fence off the bullfighting. The idea ofarenas was also starting to take shape. The building that is open to visitors today was inaugurated in 1893. With 10 000 seats, it's one of the largest arenas in the South West.
This neo-Moorish style building is now an integral part of Bayonne's heritage.


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But it is safer to run the saws with catalytic mufflers and ultra lean carb settings so there's no extra pollutants in the exhaust. All those things make the saw last longer! The government wouldn't do anything to make our saws burn up. They mandated ethanol, which protects our saw motors as well. Everything on the saw is there for the sole purpose of making the saw as powerful and as durable as possible. None of the government mandates will ever cost us a single minute of motor longevity. It's best to leave the saw 100% stock the way the government dictates it should be, because the government is so efficient and knows what is best for us.All those mods that people talk about doing must hurt the saw, people are not as smart as the government.
Well actually because of that my tree trimmer bud left his new ones stock for the 30 day warranty period Stihl puts on their pro saws . I imagine come about spring time he'll want a little enhancement done because compaired to mine his new ones are dogs . He's complained since he bought them as replacements for ones that were stolen .That doesn't make sense, newer but slower.What's wrong with this picture
Seems that there are some good builders in the midwest, and a few out here in the west west. I have run some here from Dean and Jasha, and one DN saw. They all ran really good, but this was at some GTG events where people bring their good saws to. As for bad porting, that can and does happen. Even from some of these builders. I have seen some not so well ported saws come on the market with some rather shady statments about performance. I also have to question when some guy wants to sell a woods ported 361, and will consider a trade for a stock 361. Makes you wonder why he wants a stock 361? Oops... You need to treat the transfer ports with respect, and you can screw up the mechnical timing pretty bad if you mess up the ports. I have seen guys pull the jug gasket out of a saw (or thin it and put in a Bud can gasket) just trying to raise the compression of a low compression saw. They would have been far better served to replace the rings. I have also seen exhaust ports made too wide on Stihls that nearly clip the rings. I have also seen saws with gobs of low end torque, but they cannot cut for crap when WOT. Porting affects the torque and power curves, where they peak, and the response of the saw. As for muffler mods in woods porting, that is typically done to help the ported saw move the gasses along better. Porting can be done in stages of complexity and stopped at any point, and some stages can be skipped: 1) muffler opened up and/or gutted and/or the CAT removed and carb re-tuned richer 2) cylinder ports opened up and polished3) cylinder base turned down and the outside of the piston crown turned down4) Transfer ports opened up and/or polished, piston lightened/polished 5) Carb rejetted or swapped out with a bigger carb A non-limited coil can be added at any time. Note also that some saws do not lend themselves to being woods ported. For example, the Stihl 1123 and 1127 line of saws. They have clamshell engines, and are nearly impossible to squish. So you can mod the muffler and widen and polish the ports, and retune the carb, and you are done. On my 310, I just opened up the muffler and re-tuned the carb. Easilly a 10% gain. Took all of an hour. On my 044 I added an 046 factory dual port muffler cover and retuned the carb. Similar results, but it only took 15 minutes. On my 066 I added a custom dual port cover, retuned the carb, and replaced the rev limiter coil. I got between a 15-20% gain from that one. On all of my 026s (five or six of them) I have done mild muffler mods to full port jobs. I am still messing with them trying to find the best setup.
In stage three you said turn down the out side of the piston, how much and is this so it inhales and exhales better?
Windthrown,you must fall in the "lot of man" catigory,I've never cut west coast.Only know northeast trees.How does porting affect the longevity of a saw in the work envourment??If you used two identicle saw one wood ported outher not which would live longer?? thanks Frank C.
In stage three you said turn down the out side of the piston, how much and is this so it inhales and exhales better?
Windthrown,you must fall in the "lot of man" catigory,I've never cut west coast.Only know northeast trees.
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It took 10 years for Aerial to put out a second album, and according to an entertaining and informative video on the Scottish trio's official website, the recently released Why Don't They Teach Heartbreak At School? (available in the U.S. at Kool Kat Musik) reflects the musical and personal changes that band members Colin Cummings, Mackie Mackintosh, and Steven Henderson went through during that time period. It's a perspective that probably won't be immediately apparent to most listeners, since they'll be more caught up in the album's high energy power pop arrangements. Still, it doesn't take long to notice that Aerial creates imaginative and clever ways to examine the topic of growing up.
The catchy title track uses fun, Beach Boys style harmonies to suggest that standard subjects like Algebra and History might not be as important as teaching students how to survive a broken heart. "Great Teenager" is another satiric look at adolescence augmented by intricate vocal interplay and an infectious melody, while on "Japanese Dancer," Aerial adds a touch of new wave to an offbeat love song. The powerful guitars on "Cartoon Eyes, Cartoon Heart" are reminiscent of The Smithereens, while "Madeline It's Me" and "More Than Alcohol" find the band taking a lighter, but still catchy approach. The final track, "Wave Goodbye To Scotland." finds Aerial exploring even further; beginning simply with piano and vocals before blossoming into full orchestration.


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Pure DWTS – Chelsea Hightower & Tony Dovolani At Women's Fair In Vegas
Saturday, Tony and Chelsea made a special appearance at the "10th Annual Women's Fair" in Las Vegas. The event took place at the South Point Hotel & Casino. Other entertainment included Thunder From Down Under, Frank Marino's DIVAS Las Vegas, Menopause the Musical, Delgado Dance and an appearance from "All My Children"'s Jordi Vilasuso. If you'd like to see more pictures of Tony and Chelsea, go to I Need My Fix. Are they cute or what? 🙂
For an extra bonus, here the two are dancing together in a "Blast From the Past Moment".


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Rick Ross "MMG Tour Vlog" Part 2 (Welcomes Newest Member Of MMG Dj Ay Bay Bay & Brings Out Trinidad James In Tallahassee)
Directed By: Shutah Films & Dre Films #MaybachFilms
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Prosecutor and persecutor
Kamala Harris has a complicated record, but her zeal to support abortion and attack its opponents has been consistent
Kamala Harris has a complicated record, but her zeal to support abortion and attack its opponents has been consistent
Pro-lifers, conservatives praise Trump's third SCOTUS pick
Mike Pence has brought a low-key but active approach to the vice presidency
A deadly border clash between Chinese and Indian troops has put relations between the two most populous countries in the world on a precipice
Andrée Seu Peterson / Janie B. Cheaney / Joel Belz / Marvin Olasky / Mindy Belz / The Editors /
Health / Lifestyle / Education / Medicine / Sports / History / Business / Law / Technology / Science / Religion
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The formal introduction: Mike Adams is a professor at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and a syndicated columnist. The informal: He is probably the most outspoken Christian conservative professor in the United States now teaching at a state university. He's gone from passive writing to fiery prose, and from an incendiary lifestyle to one centered on true ideas.
Q: Tell us about your 1.8 GPA in high school. I can't believe you brought that up! That was off limits!
Q: How hard did you have to work to get a 1.8? My goal was to graduate with a 1.0, the lowest passing grade possible, but I had accidents along the way and ended up with a few C's. I was a soccer player pursuing a professional career, then I was injured. I went to junior college and had to recover for a few years.
Q: But you made it to graduate school. To fund my education I played in duos and trios: All I would ask for was an unlimited bar tab and a $100 bill. My last month in grad school, April of '93, we played 22 nights. I ended up making a little too much money doing it, and that's when I ran into some trouble with alcohol and drugs and all that. I'm surprised I'm here and alive. I didn't think I'd make it to 30, and I'll be 45 next month.
Q: Were you an intellectual atheist? I was not an intellectual atheist at all. Musicians get a lot of attention from women. If there is no god, I can have sex with as many women as I would like. Hurt them? Eh, we'll all be dead soon and we won't know it. There's nothing on the other side. There was nothing intellectual about it at all. It was an excuse to engage in selfish conduct. I didn't give a penny to a single charity when I was an atheist.
Q: You studied criminology and saw some things in Central America . . . In 1996 I was a leftist, an atheist, and a card-carrying member of the ACLU. In a prison in Ecuador I witnessed the torture of a young man who appeared to be in his teens. He was being beaten with a bat so badly you could almost hear his bones crunching. I was seeing all this brutal stuff firsthand, 45 people in a 36-square-meter cell, the smell of the rotten food they would give them, fecal matter and urine all over the floor, people walking around with cut marks from knife fights, and people shot in the back. I came walking out of that prison on March 7, 1996, thinking that there is an absolute right and wrong, a moral code that does not depend on my feelings or reactions.
Q: Others see the same things in prison and remain atheists. What happened in your case? There was a foundation. I grew up with a fundamentalist Baptist mother and an atheist father, so when I went to college I was inclined to fall away, but I had that core foundation to lean on. A lot of the things I heard when I was growing up came alive in me. I was really shaken to the core. That should have been the point when I became a Christian, but I went floating for about 3½ years. I wouldn't go back into a church because I felt that people could see my past written upon me.
Q: Sex, drugs, and alcohol? It was bad, to the point that I almost died in 1991. My heart almost stopped from consumption of amphetamines one night playing-I just ate too many of them and went to an emergency room. I felt like I couldn't go into a church. Then came an experience on death row in Texas: I met a mentally retarded rapist and murderer who was 13 days away from execution. I called myself an educated man, had a Ph.D., was a professor, but had never read the Bible. So I sat down and read it, and right around the time I finished I met a woman who said to me, "You're going to church with me." I became actively involved and haven't looked back.
Q: So you were a professor in North Carolina, fitting right in as an atheist and leftist, and then you did this disreputable thing, becoming a Christian? I didn't come out vocally until 2000, but they had granted me this thing called tenure in 1997. When it became known that I was a registered Republican and conservative Christian, they didn't like me much for a few years. Now, it's ratcheted up.
Q: How did they show that dislike, and how is it getting to be more than dislike? Just funny things. When I was a Democrat I'd put a sign on my door that said, "Clinton/Gore '96," or something like that. I decided just for the fun of it to put up a "Bush/Cheney 2000" poster on my door. Some of the professors got together to raise a charge against me. I sent an email to every professor in the department saying, "You have been involved in an experiment on tolerance and diversity, which unfortunately you have failed. For several years the Clinton sign has been up there and you didn't say anything about it, but now that the Republican poster is up, you are offended." It was funny.
Q: Many of your columns report political correctness at universities. Where do you get your information? I just got off the phone with a professor calling me from California. He teaches psychology and said that women are more prone to depression than are men, and there's a biological reason for that. The women's studies department found out about it and started demanding that he be removed from teaching the class. We have feminists on college campuses these days who believe that there are no inherent differences whatsoever between men and women: There are no differences at all except those that come from culture and patriarchal oppression.
Q: You don't like campus "speech codes" that prohibit criticism of religion, lifestyles, or other matters that might irritate some folks. Speech codes purport to give students a constitutional right to feel comfortable, which makes no sense because the First Amendment guarantees that you will feel uncomfortable, with regularity. If you don't like it, move to Cuba, because this country was founded upon the idea of a very robust exchange of ideas. The very notion that you can somehow create an environment where no one is offended-first of all, that's not a university. But also, that isn't their goal. Their goal is to selectively enforce the speech codes in a way that is unconstitutional.
Q: You wrote about a situation where UNC-the University of North Carolina-officials told a Christian group to remove a part of its constitution saying that members should believe in God, because that requirement is "intolerant." You were supposed to sign a nondiscrimination clause that not only allowed into your Christian organization people of all different religions, but allowed them to run for office: A Christian organization with a Muslim president, a Hindu vice president, a Buddhist secretary-maybe a Christian could be treasurer?
Q: Language about belief in God was labeled "exclusive" and "intolerant"? I went through a public records process and found that many Christian organizations were being told similar things. This is what racists used to do to the NAACP back in the 1950s in Alabama: They used to say, "Because you're tax-exempt, you must allow Klansmen to hold offices, and you must allow people who believe that segregation is a good idea to join the organization." And that went to the U. S. Supreme Court in 1958, which said that relevant beliefs are not arbitrary discrimination (which the 14th Amendment had set about eliminating) but simply a way of bringing about the First Amendment freedom of association.
Q: What happened? In the 1950s the Supreme Court had said, if it's not arbitrary, it doesn't violate the 14th Amendment. In 2003 people at the University of North Carolina who claim to be the czars of tolerance were using old Klan tactics. They should be embarrassed by this. I began to write about it. I honestly hoped they would back down. It took me 18 months of making phone calls and writing letters to Christian organizations for one of them to finally come forward and file a federal lawsuit. Within six months of doing that, via federal court injunction, we had the policy struck down. That was a struggle, and the biggest part of the struggle was getting the Christian organizations to step forward. Unfortunately, that is too often the case.
Q: What is your "Spread the Wealth" grading policy? I wrote a spoof email to my students saying that I was going to come up with a new grading system. I said, "A lot of students make A's, and they really have more points than they need. No one really needs that many points, and there are a lot of poor people out there failing who really need more points. So, after Exam 1 I'm going to take points away from people who have A's and give them to people who have F's so we can have more equality in the classroom. We're going to cut it down to 3 levels: B, C, and D. After the 2nd Exam, we're going to rethink that and look at the average, and I'm sure that some people will have B's and D's, and that's really not fair. So we're going to compress it and give everyone C's."
Q: How did people react to the spoof? When I speak on college campuses socialists always show up and I always ask them this question: "What would be the effect of the grading policy if I actually did it?" If people know what their outcome is in advance, they're not going to put forth an effort. The question I always have for the socialist is this: What's the difference between that and an economic policy that guarantees everyone the same outcome?
Q: Are things getting worse at secular universities? It's open season on Christians and conservatives on campus. I've referred to UNC as the University of No Conscience, and also the University of No Christians. I thank God that I'm there, that I was hired as an atheist and I turned on them, and that they said a lot of very stupid things in front of me before I converted.
Q: So what happens to students? It is chic and it is hip to rebel against your parents. When you're presented with these radical ideas and you parrot them back to your professors, you immediately receive positive reinforcement. They shun you if you adhere to those traditional values and shower you with love and attention and approval if you do otherwise. Most students come back because for a lot of them it's just a temporary experiment in rebellion.
Q: Temporary and soon forgotten? Unfortunately, they do things that hurt them permanently. They come from fairly mainstream religious backgrounds, go off to college, and have enough sex partners to have serious depression issues for the rest of their lives-or they have an abortion and they don't know that it isn't a scab because they've never looked at an ultrasound. They don't realize it until much later. And how many of them pick up sexually transmitted diseases that can't be cured? For many of them it's an experiment that stays with them for the rest of their lives.
Q: As you've challenged rules, have you had defeats? We lose when we don't fight. I remind students: You'll be scared for a while, you'll get beat up for a while, but there is greater glory waiting on the other side.
To hear Marvin Olasky's interview with Mike Adams, click the following links: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.


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The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!
First up today, we have my new "Wild Flowers" set, a bold two step stamping set that coordinates with the popular previously released "Wild at Heart" frame set. I am so excited to have these additions, with new greetings and some matching butterflies. Stylized bold flowers are so great for a multitude of stamping techniques and making quick cards with beautiful bursts of color!
Perfect for the rock and roll technique Gina shared recently on StampTV using your ink pads, today I'm getting out my water-based Memento markers for some direct to stamp coloring! TIP: Scribble on your lightest color first, and then add your darker colors so as not to dirty up the tip of a light colored marker. Once you have all the colors where you want them and image fully inked, huff on it to moisten the ink and stamp. You will love building simple or fuller arrangements with all the different leaves and buds!Several people commented yesterday they liked how I "double-stamped" the flowers on the panels, but actually, I just stamped these on a flat panel of white CS, then die cut with my Spellbinders Labels 24 to give the greeting more impact and add more interest to the layout! TIP: I offset it just the tiniest bit so you'd have a little more of the black peeking through, rather than just the added dimension of the pop dots. Card base is Pure Luxury Innocent Pink.
Next, I want to show you fast you can build a field of flowers! Here are five different images from the set placed on the long rectangle block , inked up and ready to go, this block is a must have!
Stamp just once!Bam!
Now add your leaves and stems! I'll be back with the finished embellished sample later! :)
Finally, my last sample shows another quick card pairing this set with "Wild at Heart". First I stamped the frame in Old Paper Distressing Ink on White CS (if you see hints of pink red, sorry, I guess I didn't clean my stamp very well from the previous use, oops! This ink is not pink at all!)
Next I inked up my flowers one by one with Memento Sweet Plum and Grape Jelly on the petals and Rich Cocoa in the centers. I didn't bother with a stamp positioner, the die cut images make it so easy to eyeball and if they are slightly offset you get a tiny white reveal that gives it a more whimsical look.
Finish with the other flowers and stamp a sentiment in the lower corner. Originally, I intended for this to be a single layer card on Pure Luxury (which is why you see that large white border) but after using the purple shades I decided to kick it up by including one of the new Pure Luxury Parisian Garden patterned papers around the border, these patterns all look so terrific with my new flowers!
The finished card is just three layers (and only one color cardstock-white!), but the two step stamping and border around the frame make it look like so much more! Lots of fun tutorials coming up with this set, so please check back! Hope you love the new set as much as I do and enjoy using it with "Wild at Heart"!
And now for something completely different! I started to make a tag for a card with Tami Mayberry's new "Masculine Tags" set when I noticed how cool one of thee labels would be...
on a frosty beverage!! Father's Day is not too far off, plus birthdays of a couple men in my life!
I stamped the labels onto Gina K's waterproof labels and then cut them out with the Labels 22 and Grand Calibur.
Soak the labels off the bottles you'll be using before adhering your custom labels.
Full disclosure, I WILL say soaking the labels off a beer bottle was much more difficult than soaking off a wine label, gotta scrub scrub scrub (different glue, I guess) just sayin'! It IS worth doing for one bottle, but for a whole six pack or more, I would probably create a paper wrap/sleeve to go around each covering the original label and then adhere my new one on top, that would look great too and be much easier! Label is colored with Copics.
This is an* adult beverage* but would be super cute on soda bottles for a birthday or slumber party! Wouldn't these be so fun on a big wash tub tub full of root beers or colored in PINK for girls night?! (hmm, my birthday is coming up...!) As you can see, these two particular greetings are gender neutral, for the "rock star" in all of us! Hope this project inspires, so many picnic and outdoor events to look forward to with spring and summer on the way!
Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration:
- Melanie Muenchinger-thanks for visiting!
- Tami Mayberry
- AJ Otto
- Carolina Buchting
- Cathy Tidwell
- Deb Felts
- Donna Baker
- Emily Giovanni
- Giovana Smith
- Jennie Harper
- Jimmi Mayo
- Lee Murphy
- Lori McAree
- Michelle Woerner
- Theresa Momber
- Tina Gilliland
- Vicki Dutcher
Have a great weekend! Fun stuff coming up this weekend and inspiration hops resume on Monday! See you soon!


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Defiant … Benjamin Netanyahu has responded to international pressure by approving homes in the West Bank.JERUSALEM: Israel is entering the final phase of its election campaign with an increasingly rocky relationship with the US and under pressure from France and Britain, who are reportedly working behind the scenes to revive the moribund peace process with the Palestinians.
Just days before Tuesday's poll, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has had to contend with comments attributed to the US President, Barak Obama, that suggest he believes Mr Netanyahu is leading Israel to international isolation with his settlement construction plan.
Mr Obama's statements, in a commentary piece on Bloomberg, which were not denied by the White House, have prompted a flurry of commentary in the Israeli press, noting Mr Netanyahu appeared to have responded with an announcement of yet more settlement construction.
The Netanyahu government has responded to what it has deemed "provocations" from the Palestinians with more settlement building approvals.
Israel's relationship with the US should be high on the mind of Mr Netanyahu when he forms his new coalition following the election, said Eytan Gilboa from the BESA Centre for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv.
"If John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are confirmed as secretary of state and defence secretary – and I think they will be – that could mean certain additional difficulties for Netanyahu," Professor Gilboa said, noting both were less supportive of military action against Iran's nuclear program than Israel. "There are better coalitions to deal with foreign affairs and Iran and better coalitions to deal with social justice. [Mr Netanyahu] will have to decide what his No.1 priority is. I am arguing Iran is the No.1 issue, so he needs at least one centrist party in his coalition."
Yair Lapid, from the centrist Yesh Atid party, and Tzipi Livni, from the newly formed Hatnua party, have indicated they may join a Netanyahu coalition, principally to constrain him. Naftali Bennett, the leader of the popular far-right Jewish Home party, has said much the same.
"So, in fact, there is a competition between the far right and the centre about who is going to put the brakes on Netanyahu – I cannot recall this happening in Israel before," Professor Gilboa said.
The final opinion poll before election day, published on Friday, shows the right wing's majority falling away, with 63 seats predicted for the right's bloc and 57 for the centre, left and Arab bloc, Haaretz reported.
Mr Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu party suffered the most, dropping to just 32 seats, with Labor steady on 17 seats and the Jewish Home party continuing to poll at 14 seats. The right-wing Shas is predicted to win 12 seats, while the centrist Yesh Atid also sits at 12. The poll of 712 respondents, conducted by the Dialog Institute, found 15 per cent of voters remained undecided.
Meanwhile, the French President, Francois Hollande, has reportedly confirmed to Ma'ariv that France was in the process of drafting an initiative that was designed to renew Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
The proposal – believed to include negotiations based on pre-1967 borders with possible land swaps – would push for all core issues to be resolved by the end of the year. It would require a freeze on building in the settlements, a demand Mr Netanyahu has consistently rejected.
The original release of this article first appeared on the website of Hangzhou Night Net.


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By: Caroline Rodin
Anyone can make the next big YouTube hit, whether you're a corporation with a big budget or an individual filming on your phone. But small businesses have the perfect combination of resources, flexibility and a loyal following that make a YouTube video successful. Learn the techniques that big companies are using to promote their videos and help them go viral and how you can do a few simple things to give your video a boost.
Grovo, an online education platform for leading sites, apps and Internet tools has the Top 4 Ways to Make a Video Go Viral This Weekend. YouTube is waiting for you to film the next viral video. Make sure it goes viral.
1. What is Video Optimization?
Online video is more popular than ever, reaching a huge percentage of the US Internet audience…and YouTube, the world's largest video site, is at the heart of it all. Tapping into that large YouTube audience to get more views, however, means making sure that your videos are optimized for people to find them. Check out this Grovo video to get a quick overview before moving forward:
2. Find and Compare Trends
The YouTube Trends Dashboard allows you to see what videos are most popular in different places around the world to help you decide what content to produce and who to target. To use the YouTube Trends Dashboard, navigate to youtube.com/trendsdashboard. Use the location drop down to see popular videos in a specific country or city, use the age drop down to pick an age range, and filter by gender using the links below. The "Compare" button lets you select up to three locations, age ranges and gender settings to compare what's popular with different groups of people. Use the "Unique" checkbox to see which videos are not in any other list, and the "Common" checkbox to see which videos are in multiple lists..
3. Help Search Engines Find your Videos
Adding tags and video categories can improve the performance of your videos by helping search engines find them when users search for your tags and similar terms. You can add tags when you upload your video, or at any time after by selecting "Video Manager" in the dropdown below your username. Check off a tag you've already used to include it, or type in the box above to find a specific tag or create a new one. You can also choose a video category that matches your title, description and tags to help improve your video's search ranking even more..
4. How do I Get More YouTube Views?
A video's popularity is a function of many factors, only one of which is the quality of your video content. Most importantly, however, before people can even judge the quality of your content, they have to be able to find it. Grovo's video below will show you how to help people find your videos via YouTube search, with three of the most important elements are, and the top 5 factors that will influence how well your video will appear in search results. We'll wait for you to finish the video…
Okay, good. You actually watched it right? None of these factors is necessarily more important than the others; they all play a part in determining whether you video will show up in search results.
About the Author:
Caroline Phillips Rodin is the SEO & Inbound Marketing Manager for Grovo.com. She has nearly a decade of experience helping Fortune 500 financial and fashion companies improve their online visibility and increase their natural search traffic. Not only is she in love with SEO, she has a passion for sharing her love of SEO with others. Caroline's work has been published in Social Media Today, YouMoz, Business2Community and AdvancedWebRankings, and more. Caroline graduated from Wellesley College cum laude in 2010 with a degree in sociology. She is an avid reader who spends her free time hunting for NYC's best chocolate chip cookie.


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Doug E. Fresh & Sons "Square Off" BET The Backroom Freestyle
Doug E. Fresh and Sons in The Backroom at 106 & Park
Posted by @Worldstarvids
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Former President of DocX Enters Missouri Plea Agreement
JEFFERSON CITY - Attorney General Chris Koster announced a plea agreement Tuesday between Lorraine Brown, the former president of DocX, and the state of Missouri. The agreement will put Brown in prison for two to three years.
In the agreement, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of felony forgery, one count of felony perjury and one misdemeanor count of making false declaration.
Between the months of March and October 2009, DocX employees allegedly forged signatures on thousands of mortgage documents resulting in many foreclosures, according to the attorney general. Koster said before 2009, DocX practiced similar signing forgery.
"DocX's robo-signing practices were the worst in the country. Surrogate-signing crosses the threshold into criminal activity," Koster said. "This agreement brings to justice the person most responsible for these activities and upholds the principle that when you sign your name to a legal document, it matters."
Documents from DocX provided home foreclosure services to many banks and lenders around the country.
Brown was originally facing 136-count indictments from a Boone County grand jury earlier this year.
Koster said Brown is the only person from DocX against whom criminal charges are being sought. Koster said the agreement was made about seven to ten days ago. Koster said the Attorney General's Office worked with the Boone County prosecutor, the Jackson County prosecutor, the Boone County recorder of deeds, and the Jackson County recorder of deeds.


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Cyberpunk promises 'smoother learning curve' over The Witcher
CD Projekt RED talks about its story plans for Cyberpunk and lessons learned from the Witcher series.
CD Projekt RED is moving from swords and arcane runes to neon and future-tech with Cyberpunk. While it may be a drastic shift, the developer is using lessons learned from The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
"What we learned from The Witcher series is that we need to attract people with a smoother learning curve when it comes to the storyline," said CD Projekt's Adam Badowski.
"In The Witcher 1, for example, we were throwing people in the middle of the story, and we assumed that players would know what is happening! But a lot of players told us that they didn't really understand this relationship or that relationship," co-founder Marcin Iwinski told Gamasutra. "With our future games, we want the player to be able to get more context, and we need to introduce the game and its characters to people more properly."
Iwinski compared the task to Game of Thrones, the popular TV adaptation from a series of novels. The show trims out pieces of the story or takes liberties to streamline it, but that's all in service of making the plot easy to digest in that format. "And that's what we want to capture," he said. "In [Cyberpunk], we want to create a story that is very profound, but the novice players should be introduced to [the world] better than they were in The Witcher 2." At the same time, he says this doesn't mean the team is going to "simplify" the game experience.
Steve Watts posted a new article, Cyberpunk promises 'smoother learning curve' over The Witcher.
CD Projekt RED talks about its story plans for Cyberpunk and lessons learned from the Witcher series.


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Wolf and Stoakes announce engagement
Craig and Karen Wolf of rural Erie and Dennis and Sharon Stoakes of Traer are proud to announce the engagement of their children Corindy Ann Wolf and William Dennis Stoakes.
The couple plan to marry on December 10, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. at the Erie Christian Church. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the ceremony and reception afterwards at the Wild Rose Casino & Resort in Clinton.
The bride-elect is a 2000 graduate of Erie High School and a 2004 graduate of Western Illinois University in Malcomb, graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Education. She had been a fifth grade teacher at Edison Elementary School in Macomb.
The prospective bride-groom is a 1999 graduate of North Tama High School in Traer and a 2002 graduate of Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids where he majored in crop production. He farms and is also employed at Pioneer Hi-Bred.


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A super soft American Vintage Jacksonville V Neck Long Sleeve T-shirt in bright white. Made in soft, lightweight fabric featuring an A-line silhouette and v-neck giving it an extremely flattering figure skimming fit. A versatile essential which you will wear season after season, on its own or layered up this t-shirt will compliment your whole wardrobe! Style with your favourite denim jeans for an effortless casual day time look.
Need further help or style advice? Please call our Denim Boutique on 01565 651269 or email email@example.com
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