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Home > Greater London > 18 florists in "Hackney" > Rosa Florists > Products > Endora
253 Graham Rd,
London, E8 1PE, UK
out of 5
based on 236 user ratings
(236 reviews) 97.50% positive
My cousin received her flowers and said they were beautiful
5 / 5
Lorraine 18th Sep
Top quality customer service, I ordered last minute and the lady on the phone said she would do her best but the flowers were delivered within half an hour!!
the flowers were top quality and I would highly recommend this florist
John 18th Sep
Fantastic arrangement. Beautiful.
Thanks so much
Cheryl 17th Sep
Beautiful flowers, excellent service . Highly recommend. Thank you Ruby Doodles
Janet 17th Sep
Superb service. The delivery also involved a 'secret agent' to handover the 'special delivery' courtesy of the delivery driver's son. My friend was delighted.
Jo 17th Sep
Thank you so much for delivering the order - beautiful display - Daughter in Law loved them - will definitely order again and would recommend your service to anyway - thanks again
Delia 17th Sep
Beautiful selection of flowers, full of colour and scent and last so much longer than shop bought ones. Fast delivery too.
Elaine 17th Sep
Great service. Ordered 11pm and flowers arrived 10.45am the next day. The flowers were for a 40th birthday and she was so happy. Thank you so much will definitely order from here again!
Jemma 17th Sep
The bouquet was beautifully presented and all the flowers were fresh. Thank you very much will use you again
Susan 16th Sep
Absolutely beautiful...just as it looks on the site.
Thank you so much. Great service and product. Will definitely use again and highly recommend to anyone ???? happy customer and recipient
Sylvia 16th Sep
Fast delivery and beautiful flowers recipient was delighted. Will definitely order again, many thanks!
Jamie 16th Sep
Excellent customer service was kept updated and the flower arrangements were beautiful highly recommended :)
Danny 15th Sep
Easy to order and direct communications with the florist were responded to swiftly. Delivered a magnificent bouquet arranged beautifully with lovely flowers and at the promised time.
Happy to recommend this florist.
Thank you
Sean 15th Sep
Simple online ordering process. Flowers were delivered on time and were beautiful. I have used Direct2florist UK on several occasions now and i am never disappointed.
Christine 14th Sep
Excellent service, delivered same day. She loved the flowers
Welker 14th Sep
I received fantastic service front melanie Webb Flowers, highly recommended! The bouquet was delivered when requested, exactly as pictured with high quality flowers which look and smell beautiful, and a very friendly and professional service.
Becky 14th Sep
The flowers were beautiful and my Aunt loved them
Karen 13th Sep
I ordered the flowers from the US to go to my mom in the UK. She was having surgery on Friday morning, and I ordered the flowers on Thursday morning US time for delivery in the UK during the afternoon. The flowers arrived on time, and were apparently gorgeous. My mum and dad were thrilled. I was grateful and super happy.
Pope 13th Sep
ordered flower from Australia to the uk.flowers were exactly as requested, quick and easy online service.highly reccomend Hasland fruits and flowers
Marie 12th Sep
Flower arrangement looks absolutely .lovely. They were a gift for my mother in law who celebrated her 103th birthday..
Christine 12th Sep
Order within > 13 hours and 32 minutes > for delivery on MONDAY in UK
Only the freshest stems are used in this gorgeous bouquet. With roses being the focal point, this bouquet is sure to send the desired message, to either a loved one, family member or colleague.
Rosa Florists
253 Graham Rd,
Hackney, E8 1PE
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Global Natural Gas Consumption Regains Momentum
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Rise in global consumption indicates renewed popularity of natural gas as an energy resource.
Washington, D.C.—Driven by surging natural gas consumption in Asia and the United States, global use of this form of fossil fuel rebounded 7.4 percent from its 2009 slump to hit a record 111.9 trillion cubic feet in 2010, according to a new Vital Signs Online report from the Worldwatch Institute. This increase puts natural gas's share of total energy consumption at 23.8 percent, a reflection of new pipelines and natural gas terminals in many countries.
The world's largest incremental increase in natural gas use occurred in the United States, where low prices triggered a 1.3 trillion-cubic-feet increase to 24.1 trillion cubic feet, just over one-fifth of global natural gas consumption. But the Asia Pacific region experienced the strongest growth as a share of 2009 consumption levels, with China, India, South Korea, and Taiwan all experiencing demand growth of over 20 percent. China, which surpassed Japan in 2009 to become Asia's largest natural gas consumer, by and large led the region's growth spurt by consuming 3.9 trillion cubic feet, or 3.4 percent of world usage.
The former Soviet Union, which experienced the largest regional decline in natural gas consumption in 2009, saw its demand bounce back by 6.8 percent in 2010. Russia, the world's second largest natural gas consumer, single-handedly accounted for 70 percent of regional growth. In the European Union, natural gas consumption increased by 7.4 percent; however, the EU's share of global natural gas consumption is on the decline. The Middle East, which is home to some of the richest natural gas resources in the world but lacks the proper infrastructure to facilitate much domestic consumption, saw a 6.2 percent rise in natural gas demand.
Natural gas producers have responded to this revived demand with a 7.3 percent boost in production. The United States maintained its position as the leading source of natural gas, accounting for just under one-fifth of the world's total production in 2010. In Russia, which holds nearly a quarter of the world's proved natural gas reserves, production jumped 11.6 percent. In the Middle East, growth in production of natural gas far outstripped that of consumption, rising by a full 13.2 percent. Last year, Qatar and Iran alone accounted for 29.4 percent of global proved reserves.
Reenergized global gas demand drove average prices up from their 2009 lows in nearly all markets. According to one index, the U.S. saw a 13 percent price increase over 2009 levels. Prices remained the highest in Asia, where consumption increased most rapidly between 2009 and 2010. The European Union, where prices fell 6 percent, proved to be the exception to this trend, thanks to an excess of liquid natural gas originally intended for U.S. markets.
Two major developments this year have significantly affected the stability of global natural gas markets. The political unrest brought about by the "Arab Spring" slowed production in a number of gas-producing countries in North Africa. Additionally, the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has led countries around the world to reconsider their dependence on nuclear power. "Natural gas is likely to play a major role in filling the gap left by idled and phased out nuclear plants," write report authors Saya Kitasei and Ayodeji Adebola. "The unanticipated spike in public opposition to nuclear power can only increase global natural gas demand in the coming decade."
Further highlights from the study:
- The share of global natural gas trade represented by liquified natural gas (LNG) surpassed 30 percent in 2010 for the first time on record.
- Russia maintained its status as the world's leading exporter of natural gas, accounting for 27.5 percent of global pipeline trade.
- Gas flaring, or the burning of excess gas, is on the decline in Nigeria but remains a substantial environmental threat in many countries around the world. It is estimated that 5 percent of global natural gas production is flared annually.
Notes to Editors:
For a full copy of this report, please contact Supriya Kumar at email@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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Latest News
ISIS booty includes two airports, banks as it takes control of Iraq's 2nd-largest city
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki urged his parliament Tuesday to declare a nationwide state of emergency after militants from an al Qaida offshoot seized control of a large swath of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, in a humiliating sequence of events that saw Iraq's U.S.-trained security forces abandon their posts, lay down their weapons and flee.
Witnesses on the ground and Iraqi officials in Baghdad said insurgents belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria overwhelmed national security forces and took control of key ingredients for a jihadist statelet: a civilian airport, a military airport, a military division headquarters, a border crossing with Syria, a weapons depot, government offices, banks and television stations.
The fighters released thousands of prisoners from a detention center known for housing extremists and removed the city's many roadblocks and checkpoints, allowing a stream of terrified families to flee to the safer Kurdish region in the north. The United Nations estimated that 500,000 people had fled.
There were conflicting reports about whether government or militant factions remained in control of the Mosul Dam, a major water source that's typically protected by Kurdish peshmerga militiamen, and the oil refinery and power plant in the city of Bayji, in the neighboring Salahuddin province. The refinery is oil-rich Iraq's largest; the power plant provides electricity to three provinces where panicked residents braced for a cutoff in basic services.
Even without those last prizes, however, the swift and sophisticated power play underscores the momentum behind the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, better known by the acronym ISIS, which has been pushing for more than a year to establish an Islamist state that spans western Iraq and eastern Syria. Mosul's fall into chaos also exposes the fragility of the Iraqi government, which for years has received U.S. training and a long list of advanced weaponry to use in the counterterrorism effort.
If it stands, the militants' capture of a city of 2 million puts the capabilities of ISIS well beyond the recent exploits of core al Qaida, the terror network to which ISIS once pledged allegiance until a falling out over Syria strategy that turned the groups into bitter rivals.
"Where has any other jihadi group achieved this level of success in terms of territorial control and the workings of an actual state?" said Aymenn al Tamimi, who closely monitors Syrian and Iraqi extremist groups for the Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum.
Tamimi said it was now clear that ISIS no longer could be considered merely an insurgent group, but a state of its own, with police forces, Islamic court systems and the ability to provide services such as electricity and trash pickup. Its alliances with conservative tribes in Iraq's Nineveh and Anbar provinces and Syria's Raqqa province are evidence that it's gone far beyond al Qaida's power and influence.
"There's never been anything like it," Tamimi said.
ISIS's sudden prominence presents a conundrum for U.S. policymakers, not just in Iraq _ where the group quickly routed American-trained forces and now challenges the hold of an Iraqi government the United States helped install _ but also in Syria, where the U.S. has been encouraging so-called moderate rebel groups to contest ISIS's growing presence.
Tamimi predicted that the victory in Iraq would discourage those moderate forces in Syria who've been battling ISIS since January and would allow ISIS to consolidate control in Syria's Deir el Zour province.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki called events in Mosul "extremely serious" and said the U.S. would provide "all appropriate assistance" to the Iraqi government, but she didn't specify what such emergency aid would entail. The United States has declared ISIS an international terrorist organization.
U.S. officials said Tuesday that the Obama administration was considering more emergency aid to the beleaguered Maliki government, but also warned that the long-simmering sectarian tensions underlying the crisis had to be addressed.
In some predominantly Sunni quarters _ as well as on Facebook pages dedicated to discussions of the currently contested provinces of Nineveh, Anbar and Salahuddin _ there was no small amount of rejoicing, less in support of the extremists' actions and more about celebrating any resistance to what is widely viewed as Maliki's Shiite-dominated sectarian leadership that's marginalized Sunnis and resorted to collective punishment in the effort to rout extremists.
The group's surge is also likely to prove troubling to the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, as well as to Turkey, which has recently come to the realization that the civil war to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad has allowed radical Islamists to thrive along the Turkish-Syrian border.
The speed with which ISIS took control of Mosul was breathtaking. It began with what the Iraqi government initially dismissed as a hit-and-run operation, then turned into a frontal assault on key military bases and government centers by hundreds of fighters backed by heavy weapons.
After overrunning the government's key symbols of authority late Monday night, the militants quickly moved to consolidate control over military bases filled with advanced American weaponry, including dozens of armored vehicles, artillery and, reportedly, attack helicopters.
Iraqi television showed footage of Iraqi military uniforms abandoned by the side of the road as well as huge traffic jams of residents attempting to flee the fighting _ and apparent jihadist occupation _ into nearby Kurdish-controlled areas thought to be safe for now.
Kurdish officials in nearby Irbil said hundreds of thousands of people were expected to flee into that area and that the Kurdistan Regional Government, a semiautonomous body that administers the ethnic Kurd enclave, had mobilized its security forces to prepare for fighting with militants along Iraq's major highway linking Mosul to the south.
Sabaa al Barzani, a security official from Irbil, said Kurdish units of the Iraqi army were being moved to the confront the militants and that the Kurds' famed peshmerga militia had already been deployed.
"We have at least 200,000 people fleeing the terrorists from Mosul and the roads are full," he said by telephone. "We're pushing the peshmerga into position to confront any advance and reinforcing the Kurdish neighborhoods in (eastern) Mosul. It's a disaster. We're going to have to fight alone because the Arab army and police units have fled."
Atheel al Nujafi, the governor of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital, initially called on Mosul residents to form committees to defend the city, but he was forced to flee after hundreds of militants assaulted his office complex late Monday night.
Southern, central and western Mosul appeared to be entirely in the hands of ISIS by Tuesday's end. The Reuters news agency quoted three Iraqi military officers as saying militants had advanced to within two miles of the main military operations center for northern Iraq, at Mosul's international airport on the outskirts of the city. ISIS claimed that the airport and the military camp had fallen.
The loss of the airport and command post, if confirmed, would greatly complicate the central government's ability to mount a counterattack. Without an air facility, forces deployed from Baghdad would be forced to drive for hours along highways through areas that are often the scene of ISIS attacks on Iraqi government forces.
Unconfirmed reports from ISIS sources claimed the group also had taken control of the main highway linking Mosul with Kirkuk, the next closest city held by the central government, where reports were circulating that ISIS fighters were besieging another government military facility Tuesday night.
Twitter accounts associated with ISIS released footage of captured equipment, some of which already had been sent to support its fighters in neighboring Syria. One series of photographs posted online showed a Chechen ISIS commander, Omar Shishani, examining an apparently brand-new armored American Humvee. The date the photo was taken couldn't be immediately confirmed but was consistent with claims that large amounts of American equipment had been seized.
The events unfolding in northern Iraq came as ISIS appeared to be on the verge of consolidating its positions in Syria's Raqqa province as well as in Deir el Zour province, where it's besieging the capital, also called Deir el Zour, and the city of Abu Kamal, which controls large oil fields as well as a border crossing to Iraq's Anbar province. Those areas currently are controlled by al Qaida's official franchise in Syria, the Nusra Front, which has been an odds with ISIS over leadership and other issues for the past year.
According to the monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 600 fighters on both sides have been killed in recent fighting in Deir el Zour province, along with hundreds of civilians. More than 150,000 people have fled the area because of the sustained fighting.
Tamimi, the Middle East Forum analyst, said ISIS's victory was likely to persuade tribes in Syria, and perhaps even some Nusra commanders, that an ISIS win was inevitable in Deir el Zour.
The events in Mosul will "ramp up efforts to take Deir el Zour," he said.
In Iraq, news of the Mosul takeover spread quickly via phone conversations and social media, fueling panic as rumor and fact became indistinguishable in the fast-moving crisis.
Iraqis reached by telephone worried that the militants, who already have custody of a major dam in Fallujah, had seized the Mosul Dam, a development that would effectively give them control of the country's water supply.
A resident of Tikrit, the central Iraqi city that was Saddam Hussein's hometown, said government workers at the nearby Bayji refinery, Iraq's largest, were handing over their official vehicles to administrators for fear they'd be killed for them if militants made it into the area.
In the southern holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, locals cringed at planes flying overhead because of worries that militants had seized aircraft and might try to slam them into holy sites such as the Imam Ali shrine.
Zaid Mohammed, 27, a teacher in Mosul who spoke to McClatchy by phone from the besieged city, said clashes that had erupted Thursday night between unknown gunmen and the army and national police units foreshadowed the ISIS push.
"We used to see gunmen attack and then withdraw. This time, they weren't withdrawing. This time, they were standing their ground," he said.
After a lull Friday, he said, the situation had "exploded" Saturday and he and other residents watched in astonishment as Iraqi forces swapped their uniforms for tracksuits and abandoned their posts, "neighborhood by neighborhood."
"I asked one soldier I know why he was leaving," Mohammed said. "He told me, 'We came here for salaries, not to die.' "
Mohammed said he'd ventured outside Tuesday and seen militants _ wearing ordinary street clothes and not brandishing black jihadist flags _ patrolling the streets in apparently captured Humvees, police vehicles and SWAT cars.
Speaking in what Mohammed called "Mosul village" accents, the militants used loudspeakers to tell soldiers that they'd be safe if they laid down their weapons and deserted. He said he couldn't ascertain the ideology of the fighters; there are reports that former followers of Saddam, tribesmen and other armed groups had joined in the fight because of long-standing grievances with the Maliki administration's marginalization of Sunni Muslims.
"Whoever this is doing the fighting is different from those we saw in 2005, 2006 and 2007," Mohammed said. "Back then, they would kill soldiers whether they surrendered or not."
He said the militants also appeared to be taking pains to portray themselves to locals as their protectors, by opening roads to allow families to flee to the north and by assigning guards to banks, clinics and other public facilities in order to prevent the looting that's occurred in previous crises.
"They opened the roads, removed checkpoints and moved concrete slabs, and now the roads are open. Mosul is now like 2003; no more roadblocks," Mohammed said. "They lifted the curfew, and after that so many families started to leave toward Kurdistan. People are leaving; they're afraid of the army randomly shelling Mosul like they do in Fallujah."


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Flatbed scanning
From UA Libraries Digital Services Planning and Documentation
We no longer use flatbed scanners on a normal basis, as our overhead camera setups are much faster and make smaller files. Potentially, a flatbed might still be used to capture extremely high quality scans of flat materials. This information is retained for that eventuality.
Instructions for use
- Make sure scanner is turned on.
- Open Epson Scan software.
- Check default settings
- Document Type: Reflective
- Document Source: Document Table
- Auto Exposure Type: Photo
- Image Type: 24-bit Color
- Resolution: 600 dpi (or higher)
- Document Size will vary based on your preview scan
- Target Size: Original
- Place the document on the scanner and close the lid.
- Click the preview button in the Epson Scan software.
- When the preview has completed, use the marquee tool in the preview area to choose only the portions of the scanner the document covers with a bit of space on each side. The more space to be scanned, the longer the scan will take, so this step helps us to make the most efficient use of our time.
- When you have chosen the area to be scanned, click the Scan button in the Epson Scan software.
- Before the scan begins, a window will pop up to confirm file save settings.
- Location: This is where to save the scans. Choose "Other" and click "Browse..." to navigate to a folder on the C: drive where you usually save pre-optimized scans.
- File Names: Set prefix and start number. Note that the "Start Number" field is limited to 3 digits, so you will have to consider this when setting the prefix.
- Image Format: Should be set to TIFF (*.tif)
- If shooting multiple images with the same settings, you can uncheck the box for "Show this dialog box before next scan." This will allow you to skip this menu for subsequent scans. If you need to get back to this menu, click on the folder icon at the bottom right corner of the main screen.
- When these settings are correct, click "OK."
- Once the scan is completed, it will open automatically. Drag the image into Photoshop or for optimization, or open through Bridge's Camera Raw editor and follow normal procedures.


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Giving up
I glared at my paddle, convinced that the intensity of my gaze could somehow force it through the water faster. My skinny nine-year-old arms sunk the right side into the water and then quickly rotated the kayak paddle in my hands to sink the left side. The paddle was feathered so to not catch the wind. As I turned it I could feel it slide in my hands, wet from the salt water.
18 pt
18 pt
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"Ugghh" I grunted as I pulled through the stroke, the incoherent supplications that every child recites running through my head. "Please, please, please" I repeated, not really knowing for what I was exactly asking. The paddle slipped once again and the blade edge cut through the water cleanly and uselessly. Hot helpless frustration flooded my body. I looked up through the sticky strands of hair stuck to my forehead. My father was fifty or more feet in front of me. For several seconds I watched the play of his shoulder muscles. They rippled back and forth in a constant rhythm that seemed to alter so little I reasoned it must be effortless.
My father called back to me, "Don't you be a worm and no woman," a favorite saying of his, "no pain, no gain", another favorite saying of his and hated one of mine.
"I'm trrrryyyyyinnnngg" I yelled back at him, knowing contained within the word "trying" was the word "failure".
The secretive pines of the rocky Maine coast flew by. We had been kayaking for a while now, weaving around the small islands located in the large bay where we spent our summers. We had packed a lunch and its remains as well as a wet towel and a found buoy lay between my legs, forcing them in a weird contorted like position. I kept knocking my elbows against my knees. Blood, mingling with salt water, flowed down my leg where I had scrapped it on a broken piece of plastic climbing into the kayak.
I had not wanted to go. I never actually wanted to go but today especially because I had thought I would not have to. When I had woken the sky had been the deep slate gray that promised a summer rain. Being Maine, the absence of the sun made it quite cold and out on the water, it was even worse. The wet brine breeze frequently raised goose bumps. Gazing out my window from my warm bed, I had been overjoyed. I had hoped that the darkness of the sky would mean a reprieve from the "sports camp" my father believed should be summer. I could just be left alone where there were no failed expectations. But I had underestimated my father. He never actually mandated that I had to go with him on the runs, bike rides, swims, and kayak rides that consumed his time and I certainly didn't do all of them. However, if I didn't do at least one of the four each day he had the ability to make me feel extraordinary ashamed. I was lazy, a worm and no woman.
The sky continued to get darker but I didn't much notice as, like a mini-Sisyphus, I struggled to keep up with my father. We turned the corner onto the little inlet where our house stood high upon a hill. However, though we could see the house, we were still quite a ways away. The tide was coming out so we were battling against the water to come in. I knew this but felt a small spurt of, not joy, but relief as I could see the end in site. We were almost home and I had done my duty for the day.
At that moment the wind picked up. I looked down at the metal handle of my paddle and up at my father, now closer but still in front of me, and felt the relief of only a moment ago leave my body in a rush that I felt on a physical level. That one thing, which would not have meant much on its own, was the last straw. I was tired, my muscles ached, I had never wanted to be here, and I certainly didn't want to be here now. It suddenly seemed very pointless and miserable. My father turned around and yelled at me to hurry up.
My head snapped up and in that moment I hated him. I hated him for making my helpless and in my hatred, stopped thinking about even the next minute. I sank my paddle deep into the water and PULLED. And then I did it again. And again. I could feel my muscles spasm. I was going to sprint the last several hundred yards in and I was going to beat him. I wanted so much to beat him, with the intensity that comes from knowing I was foolish and silly for even aspiring to such a thing. My kayak shot past my father's. He looked up and I could hear him begin to laugh at the sight I made, the little girl in the big kayak, her arms rotating like dual windmills.
"I am going to win" I screamed at him. He began to pick up his pace. Seeing that I could feel myself giving up. Easier to give up now than down the line. It was inevitable anyway. In a matter of minutes Dad's kayak was far, far ahead of me. So far ahead of me that I could slow down without him noticing. Tears ran down my cheeks.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled up against the rock we had set out from. Dad was sitting, waiting for me. He was still laughing.
"Look at you girl!" He crowed, "gave me a run for my money for a moment there" but I knew that wasn't true. We pulled the kayaks into the boathouse and began walking up the hill to home. Swinging my sore arms back and forth and keeping my eyes on the dirt road, I followed behind my father. Even as I asked the question, I knew how weak it made me sound.
"Why couldn't you have let me win?"


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WAG's 100 Masters Exhibition Wins National and Regional Awards
The Winnipeg Art Gallery's blockbuster exhibition 100 Masters: Only in Canada, which ran from May 11 to September 2, 2013, has recently won two major awards and was runner up for two other awards. The historic centennial exhibition, featuring 100 artworks borrowed from 30 galleries across the country, was the most successful exhibition in the WAG's 100-year history. Spanning five centuries, the exhibition included works by artists such as Rembrandt, van Gogh, Monet, Matisse, and Picasso, as well as significant Canadian, American, and Indigenous artists, attracting over 60,000 visitors.
On April 9 in Toronto, WAG Director & CEO, Dr. Stephen Borys, accepted the Canadian Museum Association's (CMA) national award for Outstanding Achievement in Marketing for the 100 Masters exhibition. In a release the CMA said: "The selection committee was impressed with the use of all available resources … the effectiveness of the branding, and particular success of the use of a campaign which unfolded step by step which created a momentum and a sense of curiosity, awe, and urgency. . . From the teaser ads to the imperative 'last chance, extended hours' campaign of the final weekend, the WAG campaign was a case of New York's Madison Avenue coming to Winnipeg's Memorial Blvd."
The 275-page illustrated publication accompanying the 100 Masters exhibition also received the Manitoba Book Award's Manuela Dias Book Design of the Year Award. Written by Stephen Borys with Andrew Kear, Curator of Canadian Historical Art, the book was designed by Frank Reimer, the award-winning Winnipeg graphic designer and instructor at Red River College.
At a gala luncheon on May 1, the WAG exhibition was announced as the runner-up for a Winnipeg Tourism Award of Distinction in Marketing.
100 Masters was also the runner-up for the Winnipeg Free Press Entertainment Story of the Year, as voted by WFP readers, coming in second to the Paul McCartney concert at the new stadium in Winnipeg.
WAG Director & CEO, Dr. Stephen Borys, notes: "Beyond the record attendance, school outreach, membership growth, huge revenues, and national media attention for 100 Masters, what was most rewarding for me was to see how the public responded to seeing and experiencing the original works of art. In an era filled with reproductions and replicas of all kinds in all places, it is a powerful reminder that people still want to see the real thing – masterworks created by men and women over the ages. This visitor engagement confirmed again the vital role the WAG plays in the life, well-being, and development of healthy communities."
100 Masters was the largest exhibition project undertaken by the WAG in over a century, and it was by the most extensive outreach into the community and across the country. In addition to unprecedented local and regional media coverage, on the national stage, the exhibition was featured in the National Post, CBC's The National, Canadian Art magazine, Enroute magazine, and other media outlets and publications.
"Our Marketing Department did an amazing job of promoting this exhibition," says Tammy Sawatzky, WAG Public Relations Coordinator. "Transit bus signs, billboards, print and electronic media, a special website—it all combined to bring in over 60,000 visitors, exceeding all previous attendance records. During the four-month run of the show, WAG new and returning memberships increased by over 50%; thousands of students visited on school tours, including hundreds from inner city schools and community organizations with free passes."
The Winnipeg Art Gallery is a cultural advocate – a lens and forum – helping people see and experience more through art. Playing a vital role in the community, engaging and enriching people of all ages and backgrounds through art and culture, the Winnipeg Art Gallery thrives as a creative, innovative, and accessible place for learning, discovery, and inspiration.
For more information, please contact:
Tammy Sawatzky
Public Relations Coordinator
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Keeping up with area athletes competing in college:
Western Nelson (Burroughs High) freshman, Cal State San Marcos men's cross-country: The former Leader Male Athlete of the Year had a fine performance last weekend in the San Diego Collegiate Challenge, hosted by University of California San Diego.
Nelson won the men's 3,000-meter race by 10 seconds, posting a time of 8 minutes 37.72 seconds. In the same race, Jonathan Alpizar — another Burroughs graduate — placed fifth in 8:52.20.
The two helped the Cougars men's team to a fifth-place finish in the meet.
Nelson is coming off a successful freshman cross-country season for UC San Marcos. Competing at the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships at Fort Vancouver in Washington, the Cougars ran to a 12th-place finish.
Nelson led the way, finishing seventh in 25:06 to earn All-American honors.
Competing for Burroughs in 2008, Nelson ran to a 15th-place finish (15:32) in Division I at the CIF-State Cross-Country Championships, earning him second-team Division I All-State honors.
Amanda Keith (Burbank High) sophomore, Brigham Young University women's golf: The former Bulldogs standout helped pace the Cougars to a second-place finish Wednesday in the UNLV Spring Rebel Classic at the par-72 Boulder Creek Golf Course.
BYU finished second behind Pepperdine.
Keith shot a final-round seven-over-par 79, posting a 10-over 226 tournament total to tie for 38th place.
This season, Keith tied for 12th at the Circling Raven Collegiate Invitational, shooting a second-round 73. In addition, she shot two rounds of 76 in the McGuire Invitational and carded a first-round 75 en route to finishing tied for 17th at the Turtle Bay Invitational.
Emily Tubert (Burroughs High) freshman, University of Arkansas women's golf: Tubert moved up 17 spots on the leader board in the final round of the Florida SunTrust Gator Women's Invitational on Monday, leading the No. 22 Razorbacks to a fifth-place team finish in Gainesville, Fla.
Tubert began the day in 20th place, but vaulted up the standings finishing tied for third overall. The former All-Area Female Athlete of the Year posted a final round of one-under 69 for a 216 over the three-round event. Tubert shot 76-71-69 in the tournament.
"It was just a great job by Emily today," Arkansas head Coach Shauna Estes-Taylor said on the university's website. "She did a great job of coming back and finally found her groove out there. She's a fighter and really did a nice job with the golf course."
Tubert opened her final round on the first hole and posted a bogey on hole No. 2 on the course. She got the stroke back with a three on the par-four fifth hole, but finished the front nine one-over after counting six on the par-five 522-yard seventh hole.
Tubert evened her scorecard on the 11th hole with an eagle on the 129-yard par-three and moved to one-under with a three on the par-four 17th to finish with a 69.
Kassy Uchida (Burbank High) freshman, Utah State University softball: The standout shortstop continues to swing a hot bat in her first season with the Aggies.
Uchida had a big day March 5, as Utah State fell to UC Riverside, 4-1, and Idaho State, 10-2, in five innings in day two of the Wildcat Invitational, hosted by the University of Arizona. She went five for seven on the day.
In the first game, the freshman began a solid day with a double to right-center field. In the seventh inning, Uchida drove in her second run of the season with a double down the right-field line to score a run. She went three for four with a run batted in.
In the second game, Uchida continued her solid play, adding two more hits.
Heading into Friday's Long Beach Airport Marriott Invitational, Uchida was tied for the team lead with a .341 batting average (15 for 44). In addition, she has scored seven runs, has two doubles, four runs batted in and five walks. In the field, she has started 15 of 18 games and has a .933 fielding average with 16 putouts and 12 assists.
Jeff Tully


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I heard that when you reach 100 Respect, you win a bear.
Your small TV is possessed by a dybbuk. Call Matisyahu, he'll sort it out for you.
Polka: This is my 1000th post. Can I borrow $1000 from you?
So are you gonna go see The Possession today? I'm kind of interested.. but I'm convinced that there are way too many movies called Possession and Zulawski's is probably the only good one. Every time I'm Dvd shopping and see that title my heart skips a beat and then I pick up the box only to be rick rolled once more..


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Can Egypt Learn from Latin America's Revolutions?
(CAIRO) -- On Wednesday, the Egyptian army overthrew Mohamed Morsi, the country's first democratically elected president, in response to nearly a week of violent protests and social unrest. Egyptian defense minister Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi announced that the military would temporarily suspend the constitution and prepare new parliamentary elections.
Shortly after, fireworks erupted over Cairo's Tahrir Square. Crowds cheered the military's road map, and liberal opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei -- a Nobel Peace Prize recipient -- called the event a new stage in the Arab Spring, the 2011 revolution that led to the ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Dozens of countries throughout history have experienced military takeovers. In Latin America, the story is fairly common: There were at least 30 coup d'état attempts, 22 of them successful, in the region from 1945 to 1976. It's a story that (despite big political, social and historical differences) can offer several valuable lessons.
Obviously, there are significant differences between what happened in Latin America during the second half of the 20th century and what happened recently in Egypt. For one thing, religion did not play as central a role in Latin America's revolutions as it has in Egypt. The Hispanic world's chief rallying cries related to social and economic issues influenced by Marxism, and, later, by the Cuban revolution. In Egypt, meanwhile, the religious element -- exemplified by some of the policies of the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi's party -- is an important source of discontent that, is now pitting liberals against democrats.
Nevertheless, the army's actions and the celebratory remarks that ensued from intellectuals like ElBaradei can be related to certain events in Latin America history.
"I think that in certain political moments, it can seem like an easy solution for a military institution to step in," said Kirsten Weld, a Harvard professor who specializes in modern Latin American history. "But I don't think that there are easy answers to the kinds of political divisions that you see in contemporary Egypt today, or to those that you saw in Chile in the early 1970s, or in Argentina in the mid-1970s."
In 1973, right-wing and middle-class Chileans rejoiced at Salvador Allende's death and the ascent to power of General Augusto Pinochet. ("This is a time of triumph and joy," a truck-owner told the New York Times in the days following the coup.) In Argentina, in 1976, Jorge Luis Borges, the great Argentinian writer, welcomed the new military junta that deposed Isabel Martínez de Perón as a "gentlemen's government."
Years later, most of those who had hailed military intervention recanted their words and looked back at what happened with shame. More than 3,000 people were killed or disappeared under Pinochet's regime, and the Chilean government in 2011 acknowledged the claims of more than 40,000 victims. In Argentina, the "gentlemen's government" kidnapped children and pregnant women, and disappeared nearly 30,000 people, according to human rights organizations.
By 1980, Borges had already realized his mistake. "I find it impossible to ignore the grave existing problems related to terrorism and repression," Borges told La Prensa. "Nothing will prevent me from speaking about those deaths and disappearances."
In both cases -- and in most of the Latin American coups -- military autonomy led to human rights violations that have a cast shadow over the region's history.
"After a coup, the army doesn't have any accountability," said James Green, a professor of history and Brazilian culture at Brown University. "And that's the danger: there is no reason to think that the military won't do terrible things in Egypt now, much like they did in Brazil and in other Latin American countries."
Without any checks or balances in place, military juntas in Latin America usually tried to solve the country's issues by aggressively targeting groups they considered responsible for social unrest. In places like Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Peru the military's solutions often involved disappearances, torture and murder.
"History shows time and time again that what the military does when they are in control is far from what is in the best interest of large parts of the population," Weld said. "If you end up being part of the segment of the population that the military feels is part of the problem, then you might be targeted for extermination."
There is no reason to assume that this will happen in Egypt. There, the army has set forth a road map for new elections, it has named the nation's chief justice interim president, and is reportedly favoring ElBaradei, a respected intellectual, as the leader of a transitional government.
Nonetheless, it's hard to forget that the army is ousting a democratically elected leader to supposedly promote democracy.
Morsi, who denounced the takeover as a military coup and rejected the army's demands, was taken into custody on Wednesday, along with several of his aides.
People living in rural areas, the Muslim Brotherhood's main electorate, have already expressed their concern over the event, and some are predicting a civil war.
More than two dozen people have been killed since Sunday, and on Wednesday hundreds were injured during protests and clashes with security forces.
As Green puts it, "You are playing with fire if you are using the military to establish a democracy."
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio


text: The U-12 Marblehead softball team made history Wednesday night with the program's first-ever District 16 championship after it defeated Saugus in the finals at Wyoma in Lynn, 9-2. Now, it's on to the state sectional tournament. But in the meantime, the girls proudly show off the championship banner, the first of many this summer they hope. Check back soon for more on the team's journey to the district title.


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shawnafnll needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 178 designs submitted by 46 freelance designers.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. My company name is FNLONGLOCKS Hair Extensions. I sell human hair extensions and offer training to stylists.
Our image has been a bit dark and alternative if you havent guessed by the name thus far. The name does mean some thing by the way it stands for Fusion( the method) Natural(human hair)LongLocks. We are now expanding to bigger markets and need to have more of a national feel. I still want to project a modern feel but more professional. Please help!
Are target market is the salon owner and stylist. We sell to limited beauty supply stores and hope to break into this market further. We do not sell to the general public. Stylists are very unique and creative types. They like to feel they are using the "latest" or "up and coming" things. They look and feel is very important to them.
This logo will be used on our new packaging.
Need file for print and web
Below on poster is example of current logo revamp this or recreate new look.
The print space of the packaging it will be the "face" of is about 4in by 4in.
The attachments below are current materials we use
Any questions email me @ email@example.com
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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LONDON (MarketWatch) — Most U.K. stocks closed in the red Thursday after weaker-than-expected Chinese factory data created concerns about global growth, with banks and resource firms posting some of the biggest losses.
The FTSE 100 index UKX, -0.16% dropped 0.8% to end at 6,773.28, the lowest closing level in more than a week.
Shares of Pearson PSON, -1.27% sank 8.2% after the publisher of the Financial Times said it continues to face challenging trading conditions this year.
Resource firms were also lower, after a "flash" version of the HSBC/Markit China manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to a six-month low of 49.6, missing analyst expectations. A reading below 50 signals contraction. The resource sector is sensitive to growth indications from China as the country is a major user of natural resources. Metals prices were mixed.
Among miners, shares of Glencore Xstrata PLC GLEN, +0.88% GLCNF, +2.22% and Rio Tinto PLC RIO, -0.39% RIO, -0.64% RIO, -0.17% both lost 0.9%, while BHP Billiton PLC UK:BLT BHP, -0.70% BHP, +0.19% fell 0.5%.
In the energy sector, BG Group PLC UK:BG gave up 1.3% and BP PLC UK:BP BP, +0.78% shed 1.1%.
Banks also dropped. Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC HSBA, -0.06% HSBC, -0.18% 5, +0.50% fell1.5% and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC RBS, +2.64% RBS, +1.53% eased 0.9%.
Discuss key earnings announcements before and after results come in. Learn more
EasyJet PLC EZJ, +2.67% lost 4.1% after the budget airliner said it expects to report a first-half pretax loss of between 70 million pounds ($116 million) and £90 million.
Also on decline, shares of SABMiller PLC UK:SAB dropped 2% after the brewer said it plans to invest $110 million expanding production capacity in Nigeria.
On a more upbeat note in London, shares of Marks and Spencer Group PLC MKS, -1.51% climbed 2.6% after Exane BNP Paribas raised the retailer to outperform from underperform. The analysts said the company had endured three difficult years and profit declines, but that it's about to change as it revamps its approach to e-commerce.
SSE PLC SSE, +0.00% climbed 0.2% after the utility firm lifted its dividend for the fiscal year 3% and reported a solid performance for the year so far.
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
Latest from Davos: Jamie Dimon on the U.S. economy
Japan's Abe talks Abenomics, but China comments create most interest


text: Hi, Crash Overdrive pointed out some of my work a few weeks ago, and I felt I should shout out and show it and some more that has been done since. The hunt for F-01 begins. This was the first piece I did late last year. Still one of my favourites. DBNO (Down But Not Out). This is the latest piece I've done and in my opinion my best yet. My take on the classic scene from episode 2. X-Bomber give us Lamia. This was my second piece which was done after I completed the Imperial Astrofighter model.Send a message out across the Sky.... The third model I did was the Alliance Carrier and I wanted to show lots of them together with even more fighters. Victory! Big Dai-X in the classic pose. Doing Dai-X took ages as its a fully transformable model made up of all three separate ships just like in the show. There's even more art over in my X-Bomber deviantART gallery including images of all three of the Dai-X fighters and other stuff and you can download much larger versions of the images here as well. - X-Bomber Gallery I've also created a short video of the ships in action and here is a small sample. You can check out the full movie on Youtube - Star Fleet in CGI


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Free MetArt Gallery
Large breasts and a clean look below make this soft skinned beauty shin.
This site has a zero-tolerance policy against chi1d pornography.
All galleries and links are provided by 3rd parties.
We take no responsibility for the content on any website which we link to. 18 USC 2257 Info Copyrights ©2014 All Rights Reserved
Webmaster : Trade Traffic / TrafficHolder.com - Buy Adult Traffic


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Below are 1998 articles about W3C in the international press. Please send articles you would like us to consider to firstname.lastname@example.com, with "[Article]" in the Subject line. We reserve the right to choose which articles we include.
— Ranking of W3C in Boston Globe list of 150 important achievements associated with MIT. MIT is one of the organizations that "hosts" W3C; the others are ERCIM, Keio University, and Beihang University.


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Warning Sign i
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Recent book reviews by Marcia Angell, MD1—the highly esteemed, former editor in chief of The New England Journal of Medicine—have stirred great controversy within psychiatric circles, as evidenced by the heated exchange of letters published in The New York Review of Books.2-4 Perhaps—to paraphrase a line from the film Cool Hand Luke—"What we got here is a failure to communicate!"
Certainly, when someone of Dr Angell's sophistication gets psychiatry (mostly) wrong, our profession has a daunting problem on its hands. I do not intend to explore the many erroneous claims proffered in Dr Angell's reviews and letters, most of which have been rebutted by several prominent psychiatrists.2-4 (For a magisterial de-bunking of the "antidepressants are just expensive placebos" myth, I recommend the splendid monograph by Davis JM et al.5) Instead, I want to focus on one particularly troubling passage in Dr Angell's rejoinder to Drs Richard Friedman and Andrew Nierenberg. She states therein that
"[Drs Friedman and Nierenberg] are simply wrong in asserting that psychiatry, in using drugs to treat signs and symptoms of illness without understanding the cause of the illness or how the drugs work, is no different from other medical specialties. First, mental illness is diagnosed on the basis of symptoms (medically defined as subjective manifestations of disease, such as pain) and behaviors, not signs (defined as objective manifestations, such as swelling of a joint). Most diseases in other specialties produce physical signs and abnormal lab tests or radiologic findings, in addition to symptoms. Moreover, even if the underlying causes of other diseases are unknown, the mechanisms by which they produce illness usually are, and the treatments usually target those mechanisms . . . [italics added]."2
In my view, Dr Angell's assertions reflect both a serious misunderstanding of psychiatric diagnosis, and—equally important—a failure to address the core philosophical issues involved in her use of the terms "subjective," "objective," "behaviors," and "signs." The bright lines of separation drawn by Dr Angell—eg, between "behaviors" and "signs," "psychiatry" and "general medicine"—are in fact far fainter than she acknowledges. But this is not surprising. Dr Angell's analysis is part of a long-standing narrative—alas, sometimes embraced by psychiatrists themselves—that has had the effect, if not the intent, of marginalizing and denigrating psychiatry.6
Let's focus on the linguistic and philosophical issues that underlie Dr Angell's claims regarding psychiatric diagnosis. First, let's dispatch the demonstrably erroneous claim that psychiatric diagnosis does not involve "signs." To be sure, most psychiatric diagnoses are made primarily on the basis of the patient's self-expressed reports, experiences, and complaints—in effect, his or her "symptoms." And, unfortunately, DSM-IV itself contributes to the confusion by calling any feature of psychiatric illness a "symptom." The framers should have been more precise in their terminology!
However, using the definition of "sign" common in general medicine—ie, "Any abnormality indicative of disease, discoverable on examination of the patient; an objective indication of disease, in contrast to a symptom, which is a subjective indication of disease"7—we find that a number of "signs" are indeed part of the criteria sets for several DSM-IV psychiatric disorders:
• Significant weight loss (major depressive episode, anorexia nervosa)
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation ". . . observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down" (major depressive episode)
• Increase in goal-directed activity . . . or psychomotor agitation (manic episode)
• Distractibility (ie, attention too easily drawn to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli) (manic episode)
• Motoric immobility as evidenced by catalepsy (including waxy flexibility) or stupor (schizophrenia, catatonic type)
• Stereotyped movements, prominent mannerisms, or prominent grimacing (schizophrenia, catatonic type)
• Avoidance of eye-to-eye gaze (autistic disorder)
• Delay in development of spoken language (autistic disorder)
I have deliberately omitted signs of cognitive disorders (impaired recent memory, impaired calculation, etc), such as Alzheimer disease, so as to head off the objection that "those are really neurological conditions." And I have listed only those findings I believe are unambiguously "signs," according to the definition provided. However, one could make a credible argument that many other determinations made by psychiatrists are in fact observations of "signs," eg, pressured speech, loose associations, and markedly elevated affect. Then there are the many cognitive functions we assess, such as the patient's ability to perform calculations, recall words, and draw a clock face, all of which enter into our diagnosis of delirium, dementia, and the amnestic disorders.
Of course, in addition to data obtained from the mental status examination, psychiatrists routinely assess a variety of external (non-subjective) validators of diagnosis—eg, the patient's vocational function, prior hospitalizations, substance use, suicide attempts, family psychiatric history, and comorbid medical disorders. Finally, although not yet a part of routine clinical assessment, several biomarkers of psychiatric illness show considerable consistency across many studies—eg, enlarged cerebral ventricles and abnormal smooth pursuit eye movements in schizophrenia.8
"Philosophical problems begin when language goes on holiday."
—Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
Now, I am (painfully!) aware of the kind of argument often marshaled against my list of putative psychiatric "signs." It goes something like this:
Oh, come now, Doctor! With the exception of weight loss, you have really listed behaviors, not signs—at least, not as that term is understood by other medical specialties. In fact, you are really talking about certain "disapproved of" behaviors, such as an "increase in goal-directed activity." Really, now! You are just making value judgments! Who is to say what degree of goal-directed activity is or is not normal? Don't psychiatrists really just mean, "I don't like how much social or sexual activity this guy is carrying out!"? And who is to say that there is anything pathological in maintaining certain postures for long periods? If you watch a group of people performing tai-chi, you could call them all "catatonic"! No—in general medicine, a "sign" is something objective, like swelling or pallor or hypoactive reflexes. And, these bona fide signs are usually reflected in abnormalities we can pick up in lab tests, imaging studies, nerve conduction studies, etc.
This essentially "positivist" view of medical diagnosis6—and of the distinction between signs and behaviors—has the ring of superficial plausibility. Indeed, I would guess that a number of psychiatrists would nod (somewhat ambivalently) in general agreement with it. But in my view, this analysis is quite wrong-headed. It creates a spurious distinction that, on closer examination, is not supported by the way several other medical specialties function in clinical practice. It also employs a sense of the term "objective" that harks back to the largely discredited school of logical empiricism (or logical positivism) that my colleagues and I have addressed elsewhere 6,9
Why, for example, does the neurologist's statement, "The patient's handgrip is weak," describe an objective finding, whereas the psychiatrist's statement, "The patient's psychomotor activity is abnormally decreased," entails a subjective judgment? (Could it be that neurologists simply don't "approve of" certain degrees of muscle weakness? And that in a society that "valued" myasthenia, a weak handgrip would not be deemed pathological?) Why does the claim, "The patient's finger appears swollen," represent an objective finding, whereas the statement, "The patient's speech is pressured," represents merely a subjective judgment? Is there some scientific or epistemological principle that privileges visual or tactile over auditory data in deciding what counts as "objective"? One philosophically coherent meaning of "objective" stipulates 2 main requirements: careful and repeated observation and concurrence among multiple observers. On this view, psychiatric diagnosis is, to a considerable degree, an "objective" process.10,11
True: a swollen finger might well be correlated with, say, an elevated white blood cell count, whereas there may be no abnormal lab test associated with pressured speech. But it is not clear why that difference ought to render the determination of pressured speech merely "subjective." (No general physician would dismiss a swollen finger as inconsequential or "merely subjective," even if all the lab tests came back within normal limits.)
As for the objection that "you can measure the swelling in a finger, whereas pressured speech is just a judgment call," I would reply thus: If psychiatrists wanted to devise a sophisticated recording device that computed the number and volume of words per minute spoken by the patient, we could easily do so. And, after all, how many general physicians "measure" their arthritic patient's fingers before declaring that they are swollen? Of course, in our pathologizing of both terms—"swelling" and "pressured speech"—there is an irreducibly non-objective judgment. This is because each term requires general agreement on what degree of deviation from the norm constitutes "pathology." This is not something that observation alone can tell us; it is ultimately an existential judgment, based on very broad concepts of "health," "disease," "impairment," "suffering," etc.
Furthermore, critics of psychiatric diagnosis need to acknowledge that a number of well-recognized medical and neurological disorders are essentially symptom-based constructs that do not necessarily or consistently ". . . produce physical signs and abnormal lab tests or radiologic findings." Nor are the "mechanisms by which they produce illness" necessarily well understood. Consider the diagnosis of migraine headaches by our colleagues in neurology. As one recent review put it:
Migraine is a very common disabling brain disorder with unclear pathogenesis. . . . It is now generally accepted that the primary cause of migraine lies in the brain, but the nature and mechanisms of the primary brain dysfunction that leads to activation of the meningeal trigeminal nociceptors remain incompletely understood and controversial.12
Well, it's good to know that the brain is involved! The International Headache Society criteria are the basis for migraine diagnosis, and these criteria are entirely symptomatic and "subjective" in nature, eg, complaints of unilateral, pulsating headache, often accompanied by nausea or photophobia.13 There is no "lab test" or neuroimaging study that is diagnostic of migraine headaches (although such tests may rule out a brain tumor or other pathology). Indeed, unless the physician witnesses the patient during an acute migraine attack, one could argue that the migraine diagnosis is made solely on the basis of a normal neurological examination and the patient's verbal behavior, ie, the patient's narrative history of symptoms.
Space limitations prevent discussion of conditions such as atypical facial pain and Meniere disease, but I would contend that these, too, are essentially symptom-based, clinical diagnoses. Even idiopathic epilepsy is regarded, to this day, as a clinical diagnosis, made primarily on the basis of the patient's history. As neurologist Dr Anthony Marson puts it, "Epilepsy is a clinical diagnosis. . . . the diagnosis is not based upon the results of tests, but upon an accurate description of the attacks."14 Furthermore, even a witnessed tonic-clonic seizure is, arguably, a series of "behaviors": the patient falls to the floor, moves his limbs in a certain manner, bites his tongue, becomes incontinent, etc. In what fundamental sense do these behaviors differ from those of the patient with the catatonic subtype of schizophrenia, who assumes uncomfortable postures for prolonged periods and shows waxy flexibility, stereotypy, and automatic obedience?
If it is argued that the patient with catatonia is "producing" catatonic behaviors, whereas the person with epilepsy is involuntarily "experiencing" epileptic behaviors, I would reply that this amounts to a metaphysical speculation and a certain "theory of mind"—not a scientifically verifiable claim. Indeed, the distinction between "behaviors" and "signs" in both epilepsy and catatonia is largely semantic. Behaviors are, in effect, a subtype of "sign," and conform to the definition of "Any abnormality indicative of disease, discoverable on examination of the patient."7
As Dan J. Stein, MD, recently noted, ". . . both medicine and psychiatry rely on clinician-observed signs and patient-reported symptoms in order to reach a diagnosis" (personal communication, August 17, 2011). I would not go so far as to claim that psychiatry is "no different" from any other medical specialty. And, to be sure, most of the non-psychiatric conditions I have discussed here fall under the rubric of neurology. The data psychiatrists collect often do differ from those collected by, say, orthopedists or infectious disease specialists. We are less interested than these specialties in x-rays or urine cultures. We are more interested—as we must be—in the patient's phenomenology: the structure and contents of his "inner world."15 But the wall of separation implied by Dr Angell's comments is, in truth, riddled with holes. Indeed, psychiatry bears more similarities to other medical disciplines than many clinicians either understand or acknowledge.
1. Angell M. The Illusions of Psychiatry. The New York Review of Books. July 14, 2011. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jul/14/illusions-of-psychiatry. Accessed August 18, 2011.
2. Oldham J, Carlat D, Friedman R, Nierenberg A; reply by Angell M. 'The Illusions of Psychiatry': An Exchange. The New York Review of Books. August 18, 2011. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/aug/18/illusions-psychiatry-exchange. Accessed August 18, 2011.
3. Kramer PD. In Defense of Antidepressants. New York Times. July 9, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/opinion/sunday/10antidepressants.html?pagewanted=all. Accessed August 18, 2011.
4. Ghaemi N. Do antidepressants work? Asking the right questions. Psychiatry/Mental Health, 11:45AM Aug 3, 2011. Medscape Connect. http://boards.medscape.com/[email protected]@.2a0c9dc7!comment=1&cat=All&pa=3886333T1313530940564_13135309405641313530940568. Accessed August 18, 2011.
5. Davis JM, Giakas WJ, Qu J, et al. Should we treat depression with drugs or psychological interventions? A reply to Ioannidis. Philos Ethics Humanit Med. 2011;6:8.
6. Pies R, Thommi S, Ghaemi N. Getting it from both sides: foundational and antifoundational critiques of psychiatry. Psychiatric Times. July 1, 2011. http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/1895157. Accessed August 18, 2011.
7. MediLexicon. Medical Dictionary, Medical Terminology. http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php. Accessed August 18, 2011.
8. Pies R. Beyond reliability: biomarkers and validity in psychiatry. Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2008;5:48-52.
9.Pies R. How "objective" are psychiatric diagnoses?: (guess again). Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2007;4:18-22.
10. Pies R. Psychiatry clearly meets the 'objectivity' test. Psychiatr News. 2005;40:17.
11. Sen A. Objectivity and position. http://www.globalhealth.harvard.edu/hcpds/wpweb/90_01.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2007.
12.Pietrobon D. Insights into migraine mechanisms and CaV2.1 calcium channel function from mouse models of familial hemiplegic migraine. J Physiol. 2010;588(pt 11):1871-1878.
13. IHS Classification ICHD-II. http://ihs-classification.org/en/02_klassifikation/02_teil1/01.01.00_migraine.html. Accessed August 18, 2011.
14.Marson A. What is epilepsy? Based on a text by Dr Per Rochat and Dr Jørgen Alving. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/epilepsy.htm. Accessed August 18, 2011.
15. Pies R. The anatomy of sorrow: a spiritual, phenomenological, and neurological perspective. Philos Ethics Humanit Med. 2008;3:17.


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THURSDAY, Feb. 23, 2012 (HealthDay News) — The avian flu, which killed almost 60 percent of those known to be infected, actually struck many more people worldwide but didn't make them very sick, a new analysis finds.
The actual fatality rate of the H5N1 flu strain, therefore, is probably less than 60 percent considering that millions of people may have been infected over the past eight years, the researchers report.
The analysis results confirm earlier findings, said one expert, Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at New York University. It's still not clear how fatal the strain actually is, but the research "emphasizes that H5N1 is not as deadly in humans as is being proposed by some people," said Siegel, author of Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic.
Siegel added that he doesn't think "this particular virus is going to mutate to go easily from human to human. That's extremely unlikely."
Scientists and public health officials have been sounding the alarm for years about the potential that the avian flu strain called H5N1 could become a major threat to humans. As of last December, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a total of 573 cases since 2003; of those, 59 percent died.
Fears about the strain are so intense that a controversy erupted this year over whether scientists might help bioterrorists by publishing details about their research into bird flu. The WHO agreed last week to allow the research, which examines a mutated and more contagious form of bird flu, to be published.
In the new report, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City launched a combined analysis of 20 studies that examined blood test results from than 12,500 people. They found that 1 percent to 2 percent of them had signs that they'd been infected with the H5N1 infection. Most of those said they hadn't recently had cold or fever symptoms.
The research suggests that few people are being infected by the strain, Siegel said. It would be unusual for this particular type of flu to mutate in a dangerous way that could cause it to become contagious between people, he said.
Philip Alcabes, a professor of public health at City University of New York's School of Public Health at Hunter College, cautioned that the findings do show that the strain infects people more easily than previously thought.
"Does this mean H5N1 is more or less of a threat to human health? Really, the report changes nothing in that regard — because the public health concern about avian flu is about the possibility of future change in the virus-human relationship. With this study we know a little more about the present virus-human relationship — but we still don't have a crystal ball," Alcabes said.
"So it remains important to understand how animal viruses, including H5N1 and others, circulate among animals and how they migrate to human populations," added Alcabes, who was not involved in the new study.
The analysis appears in the Feb. 23 online issue of Science.


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The shale gas revolution, which began nearly 10 years ago in the United States, is poised to spread across the globe. For many countries, shale gas could strengthen energy security while cutting emissions.
But unlocking this massive resource comes with a significant environmental risk: access to freshwater for drinking, agriculture, and industrial use.


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Matters of Scale - Water World
Percent share of all water on Earth that is freshwater
Percent share of all freshwater that is frozen in glaciers and polar icecaps
Percent share of all freshwater that is available for human use
< 1
Average annual per-capita freshwater consumption, North America
1,851,170 liters
Average annual per-capita consumption, Africa
245,944 liters
Population worldwide without access to secure water supplies
1.1 billion
Population without access to adequate sanitation
2.6 billion
Annual deaths attributed to dirty water and poor sanitation
1.6 million
Annual global consumption of bottled water, liters
154 billion
Percent share of bottled water that is actually tap water
Annual global spending on bottled water
US$100 billion
Annual global spending on clean water and sanitation
US$15 billion
Number of people living in countries that are overpumping aquifers
3.3 billion
Sources: Freshwater percentages: www.globalchange.umich.edu. Freshwater
consumption: www.globalministries.org. Water and sanitation access: World Health
Organization. Bottled water consumption, tap water share, spending on bottled water
and clean water, population in overpumping countries: Earth Policy Institute.


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Everything MUST GO!
"Excuse me, where's your toy department?"
"Let me answer that question with another question:
How picky are you about licking potentially food-grade plastics?"
Yep, you can always tell when bakeries are cleaning out last year's plastic flotsam inventory. Or, as I like to call it: when Darth makes new friends.
Say, d'you think if Vader were to force-choke Spongebob he'd get all wet?
Or would he just threaten to mop the floor with him?
(Because eels always look like they just told a joke and are waiting for a reaction.)
Moving on...
"Good news, boss! This customer wrote 'just make it pretty' on her order form."
"HOT DANG!! Pass me the flotsam bucket."
The lobster really pulls it together.
Of course, there's no reason we can't be artistic about it.
I call this one, "The Meaning Of Life, With A Fast Food Crotch Grab On The Side."
Luckily her hair matches the icing, too, so we might even find a few surpriii-seees!
And this one's called, "Can YOU Say, 'Yooooouuu'rrre OUT!'?
"...'Cuz Indiana Jones 4 Sucked Huevos. Am I Right, Boots?"
Ok, so that title's a little wordy. I'll keep working on it.
"Well, boss, we did it. There's just one piece left - a spare from our old Halloween kits. Should I throw it away?"
"Throw it away? Are you kidding? Of course not! Give it here."
"Now we can sell it by the foot!"
Hey Shelli A., Kris T., Janie L., Jenn C., Lindsey S., Janie L., & Anony M, wheeeen theeee joke seems to fly like a big whoopie pie...that's a moray!


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5.0 Mustang & Super FordsNews & Views
Drive the 2015 Ford Mustang Today in "Need For Speed Rivals"
Starting today the brand-new 2015 Ford Mustang is available to drive in Need For Speed Rivals with a free in-game download. Ford Motor Company teamed up with EA to bring you this new Mustang available in five fan-customized designs with the highest votes chosen from the popular Mustang customizer site.
Before the official next-generation Mustang is up for grabs next year, get yours today on Need For Speed Rivals and it was automatically added to the garage of cars available to drive in the arcade-style racing game.
As you know, just this month the highly-anticipated new fifth-generation Mustang was unveiled before thousands of fans in six cities on four continents, and now comes with three engine options and a plethora of technological goodies.
"During the past five decades, Mustang has become so much more than just a car," said Andrea Zuehlk, Ford digital marketing manager. "The feeling of freedom and independence Mustang inspires has made it popular around the world. Making it available in Need for Speed Rivals helps us share the joy that comes from driving a Mustang to even more people."
The Ford Mustang has been a part of the Need For Speed video game franchise since 2005 and has made thousands of appearances in movies, television, games, music, and more since it first debuted almost five decades ago in 1964. Even on Facebook the Mustang is the most-liked vehicle with more than 5.6 million fans.
"We worked closely with the development team at EA to provide them with engineering data for the new Mustang, several months before we showed it to the rest of the world," said Mark Bentley, Ford product licensing manager. "Computer design models enabled the game developers to create an accurate representation of the new Mustang before it goes on sale."
Also, the Mustang "hero car" from the upcoming Need For Speed movie is available to drive and has been since the game launched back in November. For Shelby fans, a Shelby GT500 police chase vehicle is also available to play within the game.
So get your PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, or PC ready!


text: Holden Crater sits within a string of craters that look like a chain of alpine lakes connected by a stream. The crater offers tantalizing clues to the history of water on Mars. Running water carved deep gullies in the crater. Water also carried sediments onto the floor of a prospective lakebed. These deposits are more than 3 billion years old, dating back to a wetter period of early martian history. Geological studies suggest that a massive, catastrophic flood may have breached part of the crater rim that was holding back water. The water eventually disappeared. Later, wind eroded the surface and exposed ancient sediments. Winds also formed ripples and dunes that are still visible on the surface today. Holden Crater offers the opportunity to examine some of the most ancient rocks on Mars. Another benefit of the site is that the mission would not have to drive far to get there. The rover would land on top of a "bajada," a high plateau of material eroded from nearby cliffs.


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This is what the people behind Smash Bros. draw for fun. This illustration, tweeted by Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai earlier today, features a whole bunch of characters from the regular cast of Nintendo's brawl series. Sakurai says (via Google Translate) the staff drew it on their office whiteboard.
The hearts in Donkey Kong's eyes are an especially nice touch.
Sora Sakurai [Twitter]


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Telepresence in the Classroom: Enhancing Breadth and Depth of Learning
When you hear the word "classroom", do you think about four walls? Desks and chairs? Maybe you are old school and still imagine a green chalk board – well, those days are over, now it's more likely to be an interactive whiteboard, right?
If your idea of a classroom is the traditional, you need to check out Charles County Public Schools in Southern Maryland. In 2010, the district introduced telepresence, installing three completely equipped rooms to service the community's students and teachers. All of a sudden, the classrooms lost their walls, and prior geographic and instructional limitations ceased to restrict learning.
With telepresence , the district can bring in teachers for important subjects in which current instructors may not have specialized expertise. For example, Kaplan instructors based in New York City will deliver advanced placement (AP) statistics instruction through two high school telepresence classrooms. Additionally, a partnership with Duke University will bring AP math and physics to the Maryland schools, and Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment will take students on virtual field trips to study marine biology.
The district also hopes to use a telepresence room in an administrative building for teacher education. With the College of Education at Towson University nearly two hours away, teachers need options for local, high-quality professional development. The telepresence setup has the potential to bring Towson professors to Charles County—and no one has to drive.
Not only will telepresence increase Charles County schools' course offerings, but it can also deepen students' learning. In several Minnesota schools, telepresence brings historical figures to life. In a program with the Minnesota History Center, elementary and middle school students engage through interactive video with impersonated explorers and pioneers. The figures take the students into their worlds, sharing their stories and guiding the students through simulated activities like portaging canoes and harvesting rice.
I don't know about you, but to me, talking to a virtual pioneer sounds more stimulating than reading about one in a textbook. It's just one of the innovations telepresence brings to education, and I am proud to be part of an ongoing effort that enhances all levels of learning – and makes it so exciting!
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.


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Hi! My businesswoman cousin is asking for my help for her business. She checked recently all her bills and other expenses went up. She was so busy to check all the time. I read about this continuous monitoring and management for businesses. Is this reliable? Any users here who could answer some of my questions? Please help! Thanks in advance.
My family owns a small computer shop business and we are making a habit of checking and monitoring the operational expenses of our business. Are you referring to a go green practices that can help save money and increase efficiency? It seems related to continuous monitoring and managing that you've mentioned above. By the way, I assume it to be something reliable especially if it lessens a rapid increase in expenditures.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)


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Emergency Management
Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) (pdf)
Community Response Checklist (pdf) This is a link to the University's Police Dept website
Evacuation Procedure (pdf)
Emergency Evacuation of Persons with a Physical Handicap (pdf)
Fire Safety Reporting and Response (pdf)
Hazardous Waste Contingency Plan (pdf)
Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures Plan (pdf)
Please also visit the University's Police Department website for a general link to public safety issues.
For on campus emergencies dial 911 from any on campus phone.
The Health and Public Safety Management Emergency Plans and Procedures are presented in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please
download and install it from Adobe's web site.


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FOREVER FLAMENCO Returns to the Fountain Theatre, 2/10
Forever Flamenco! presents Romance Andaluz - Experience the passionate dance, songs and music of Andalusia at the intimate Fountain Theatre. The lush, sensuous and technically brilliant Lakshmi Basile "La Chimi is the only American flamenco dancer to win two National Awards in Spain. She has brought with her, from Sevilla, Cantaor (singer) David de los Santos to perform in L.A. one time only as part of Luna Flamenca's annual tour to the U.S. Also on the program: dancer Carlos Hernandez makes his Fountain Theatre debut; singer Pilar Moreno, also from Sevilla; and guitarist Ethan Margolies, artistic director of Arte Y Pureza.
Artistic Director: Lakshmi Basile "La Chimi"
Dancers: Lakshmi Basile "La Chimi" and Carlos Hernandez
Singers: David de los Santos and Pilar Moreno
Guitar: Ethan Margolis
Presented by Deborah Lawlor and The Fountain Theatre
Sunday, February 10 @ 8 pm
The Fountain Theatre
5060 Fountain Ave.
Los Angeles CA 90029
(Fountain at Normandie)


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ACA talks: What would they discuss?
Even if President Barack Obama and Republican and Democratic leaders suddenly started talking about Obamacare, there would be a problem: They just don't have that much to talk about.
Obama says he's willing to talk about his health care law, after the crisis is over. "If you disagree with certain aspects of it, tell us what you disagree with, and let's work on it," Obama said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Story Continued Below
But the kinds of piecemeal changes that wouldn't cripple Obamacare — like repealing the medical device tax — wouldn't satisfy tea party Republicans. And the bigger changes Republicans have suggested, like delaying the individual mandate or the whole law, would be nonstarters for the White House.
( POLITICO's full coverage of the government shutdown)
And if the attention turned from Obamacare to entitlements and health spending, the barriers are still considerable. Yes, Obama has proposed savings to Medicare and Social Security in his own budget. But he also made it clear that those would have to be part of a package with new revenues — which Republicans aren't about to give.
Here are some of the ideas that may come up if Obamacare is on the table.
Delay the individual mandate. This idea is at the heart of the Republicans' "fairness" argument: If the Obama administration could delay the requirement for large employers to cover their workers or pay fines, why shouldn't regular people get a one-year break from the requirement to get health coverage or pay their own fines?
It's an argument that could have broad appeal — 22 House Democrats voted for an individual mandate delay in July. Even Jon Stewart pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Monday night on why individuals couldn't get the same delay as business.
( POLITICO's full coverage of the debt ceiling)
The problem for the White House is the individual mandate is linked directly to the coverage of everyone with pre-existing conditions, which starts Jan. 1. The mandate brings healthy people into the new insurance system, along with the sicker ones. That balance helps prevent the so-called insurance "death spiral" — rising insurance prices and fewer people covered if only sicker people enroll.
Republicans could also renew their push to delay the entire law for one year, including pre-existing condition coverage. But even if the White House was open to that delay — which it has rejected on principle — there's a practical problem. People are already signing up for Obamacare health plans that start Jan. 1. The last thing the administration needs is another P.R. nightmare — telling those people they have to wait another year.
Repeal the medical device tax. This was one of the House Republicans' last proposals before the shutdown, and the idea has won some Democratic support in the past. The idea is to get rid of the health care law's 2.3 percent tax on the sales price of medical devices by manufacturers and importers. Striking that tax wouldn't gut the basic workings of the health law, and it would relieve the pressure lawmakers from both parties are feeling from medical device makers.
( Understanding Obamacare: POLITICO's guide to the Affordable Care Act)
The problem, though, is that a repeal of the device tax would get rid of $30 billion in revenue that's needed to fund Obamacare. Unless it's replaced with another funding source, that's just another $30 billion added to the deficit.
And tea party groups aren't likely to be satisfied with that anyway. Their point: We went through a government shutdown to get rid of Obamacare, and all we have to show for it is a medical device tax repeal? Plus, Democrats worry that other health care sectors would start demanding rollbacks of other financing pieces of the law.
Throw Tom Harkin under the bus again. One easy concession to Republicans would be to get rid of the Prevention and Public Health Fund. The fund, authored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), is part of the health law, but it's not central to its operation and Democrats have dipped into it in the past. Republicans could welcome the repeal of what they call a "slush fund" — but it's a "so what" victory to tea party members who want to wipe out the whole law.
( PHOTOS: 25 great shutdown quotes)
Get rid of the Congress subsidies. Republicans like Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) have been flogging the issue of the subsidies members of Congress and their staffs will get to receive their health coverage through the Obamacare exchanges. They're calling it a "special break," and House Republicans attached a repeal of the subsidies to one of their last continuing resolution proposals — even though the real purpose is to act like the employer contributions lawmakers and their staffs have always received to get federal employees' health coverage.
Even if Democrats agreed to that, though, it's not clear how hard Republicans like Boehner would push — since they know it's a sure way to lose experienced staff members who don't want to pay the entire cost of their premiums out of pockets.


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The federal government shutdown is potentially affecting very young people and their caregivers: With talks of federal daycare subsidies coming to a halt, local parents and daycare workers are preparing for the worst.
The federal government shutdown is potentially affecting very young people and their caregivers: With talks of federal daycare subsidies coming to a halt, local parents and daycare workers are preparing for the worst.
Federal assistance with daycare tuition is offered through Craven County Department of Social Services for qualifying low-income families. Once a family becomes qualified, they are able to enroll their children in a daycare that participates in the subsidy program, also referred to as DSS vouchers.
The voucher covers the portion of the overall tuition fee for a child�s attendance at daycare, and the parent fee is what the family is expected to pay. Together the voucher and parent fee will meet the total cost the daycare charges for the child.
The lack of funds coming from the federal government during the shutdown has forced the county to rethink its spending.
The Craven County Board of Commissioners is expected to meet on Monday to discuss a variety of funding changes, including daycare subsidies.
In the event that funding stops for the program, parents will be required to pay private rate for their children to continue attending daycare. This could prevent some parents from being able to continue working or attending school if they aren�t able to scrape the money together or find placement for their children elsewhere.
Not only does this impact the families who receive subsidized services from area daycares, it also affects the staff of such facilities and the local economy. With an anticipated drop in enrollment, providers could reduce hours for their staff members.
�The effects will be immediate and they will be devastating,� said Jill Toler, owner of the Kinder House in New Bern.
If funding continues, daycare providers may not receive back payments from the county for the time period that they have provided services to families who participate in the daycare assistance program during the government shutdown.
On average, the cost of full-time daycare for one child can range from $130 per week to $150 per week, depending on the age of the child. For the average worker, this can be more than they can afford, making it nearly impossible to maintain a household and cover childcare costs.
In some cases, the full cost of childcare may consume all or most of the monthly income of a working parent.
Some local daycares are doing what they can to assist families during this process.
Childcare Network, for example, is offering continued care for families they currently serve and free drop-in care for up to five days during the shutdown, for new families that have been affected by the government shutdown, according to a press release.
On Wednesday, corporate representatives for Excel Learning Centers met to determine what they can do to offer help to parents and children affected by the shutdown.
�We are going to apply all of our resources to help the families affected by the DSS voucher interruption,� said Pete Stokes, who handles business development and enrollment at Excel Learning Centers. �We will maintain the current parent fees until the situation is resolved. For new enrollees that have been affected we will offer their first week free while we sort all this out. Then we will maintain the parent fee on their voucher until the situation is resolved, however long that takes and whether we are reimbursed or not.�
A group of daycare providers, staff, parents and some local officials were scheduled to attend a meeting Thursday night at the New Bern-Craven County Public Library. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the current issues surrounding the elimination of funding for daycare subsidies, according to Sonya Simmons, a local daycare provider.


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I've been playing Spider-Man 3 on the PlayStation 3 for the past few days getting ready for the review. It's not a pretty game, but I've been able to get past the graphical problems pretty quickly, although the framerate is problematic in very odd places. What really kills me are the character models during the cutscenes. It's like freakish, plastic mannequins were given life, but their eyeballs have been partially pushed out of their skulls. Don't believe me? Check out a few screens, courtesy of GameSpot.
These are from the 360 version, but in my experience the PlayStation 3 port is just as bad. It's not even that the character models are bad, but it's genuinely disturbing to watch them walk around and interact. It moves past the uncanny valley directly into the realm of the nightmarish. It's like they buried Tobey Maguire and Topher Grace and let their bodies rot for a few weeks before digging them up and making them move via bad animatronics.
It's all I can do to keep from screaming every time a cutscene pops up. Terrifying.


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Sixteen years have passed on Earth since Kyle Blackthorne returned to his homeworld, the futuristic planet of Tuul. There he rescued its inhabitants, the Tuulips, overthrew the evil Sarlac, and reclaimed his father's kingdom. But now, a new threat stirs beyond a torn horizon, and only one man can stop the darkness closing in... on Earth.
Unwilling to let another world he had called home be crushed in the wicked grip of the orc blight, Blackthorne abandons his (black) throne and uses the power of the Lightstone to travel back to Earth. But what awaits him at the other end of the world portal is like nothing he could have expected, and the stakes are higher than ever before....
The bestselling action adventure shooter returns... and this time, it's personal.
- Uncannily lifelike AI -- now the orcs act just like they do in real life.
- 100% photorealistic graphics. Don't be surprised when your friends try to walk into the screen while you're playing.
- Epic hard rock soundtrack with rhythm action elements -- fire shots in time with the beat for escalating score bonuses.
- Revolutionary gameplay that builds on Kyle's signature no-look behind-the-back shotgun blast. Now he never looks where he's shooting!
- Twitter and Facebook integration to automatically post updates for every single enemy you kill. Your friends will thank you.


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Taking place over 17 days from Jan. 18 to Feb. 3, the 11th Dine Out Vancouver festival features prix-fixe menus at more than 215 restaurants around the city, along with special hotel offers and one-off foodie events.
Vancouver at any time of the year is a gourmet's delight. Its position on the Pacific means that the seafood is nothing short of spectacular, meat and vegetables are sourced locally and the excellent British Colombian wines rarely make it out of the country.
Add to that the best Chinese food outside of China, in the suburb of Richmond, and you can see why the city is fast becoming known as the place to eat.
Recently I spent a few days here and as well as the obligatory fine dining, I did a food cart tour of the city and capped it all with something only Vancouver can offer — a spectacular fly 'n dine experience. Unfortunately I'd missed out on the Dine Out Festival, but if what I ate is anything to go by, then you certainly won't be disappointed by this year's event.
It took the 2010 winter Olympics to get the city fathers to allow food carts in the streets and there are now over 100. Before that they'd only licensed hot dog stands, although Japadog, a Japanese fusion sausage managed to bend the rules and were the first gourmet food cart. Licensing is still strict and it's not only based on hygiene as the city has a panel of food tasters who influence the decision.
The great thing is that these carts are now all over downtown and you can go from a barbecue pulled pork sandwich at Re-Up BBQ, to tuna tacos at Tacofino, then a grilled cheese sandwich at Mom's Grilled Cheese. My favourite, though were the Indian kebabs at Soho Road Naan Kebab.
Some of these vendors will be appearing at the Street Food City II event where 13 trucks will gather in one place with tenting, heaters, seating and music making a festive mid-winter outdoor feast.
I can recommend two restaurants who will be participating in the Dine Out Vancouver. The Raincity Grill has been defining Pacific Northwest cuisine since it opened in 1992 and sources all its ingredients from a 100-mile radius.
The products are raised, grown, and caught in the most ethical manner available and the menu is a tribute to the local farmers, fisherman and producers of British Columbia. "Farm-to-table" has become a recent catch phrase but at the Raincity Grill it has been a philosophy for 20 years.
More upmarket is Oru in the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel. Executive chef Darren Brown also serves food from the Pacific Northwest but also adds flavours of the Pacific Rim. An outstanding dish is the sake-cured Haida Gwaii sablefish.
The fish comes from the former Queen Charlotte Islands and is layered with Alaskan salt cod brandade, roasted Jerusalem artichoke, melted leeks, with chopped fennel, onion and chorizo in a tomato-mirin broth. It looks so simple but is absolutely brilliant, the different fish flavours shining through and the spiciness of the chorizo giving it a cutting edge.
Fly 'N Dine must be the quintessential Vancouver experience, although it won't be available for the Dine Out Festival as it only runs from May to September. You go down to the harbour in the early evening, and catch a seaplane to your dinner.
The DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver only takes six passengers and circles the city before touching down in Horseshoe Bay where it delivers you to the Boathouse restaurant. After an excellent meal you're picked up in a stretch limo and are ferried back to Vancouver.
From Jan. 18 to Feb. 3, 200 restaurants will be offering three or more course dinners at $18, $28 or $38 with suggested British Colombia wine pairings at extra cost. Participating hotels will have rooms rates of $78, $108 and $138 and special packages. There's a full menu of unique food-themed events and activities, including culinary tours, cooking lessons and special dining experiences.
Throughout the festival, diners can take part in the Best Bite Awards by voting for their favourite festival experiences and be automatically entered to win the Dine Out for a Year contest.
On the event schedule this year are a blend of old favourites (such as Street Food City; Plated & Paired at the Public Market; Secret Supper Soirée; and Act I, Eat 1) and new additions, including The Grape Debate (a lively wine debate followed by B.C. wine tastings); Tea Cocktails & Tapas (tea-infused cocktail class paired with tasty tapas at The Urban Tea Merchant); and an experiential Speaker Series at Edible Canada on Granville Island (taste cheese, wine, beer, bitters and more under the guidance of a local expert).
Tourism Vancouver has tourist information. British Columbia Travel has information on the region. Canada Travel has information on the country.
All pictures copyright Rupert Parker.