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As the investigation into Violet R. Ripken's abduction stretched into an eighth day, police remained silent Wednesday about their leads — a strategy Harford County State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly said could ensure the potential suspect doesn't destroy evidence or intimidate witnesses.
Investigators on the 40-person Aberdeen police force, Cassilly said, must find a balance in publicly releasing details that will help solve the case but will not provide any advantage to the man believed to have abducted the 74-year-old mother of Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. and widow of former manager Cal Ripken Sr.
"I hope that we're successful; that's all I say," Cassilly said. "Every crime isn't going to be solved. Good police work is probably about 90 percent sweat and 10 percent luck. That 10 percent can be a big factor sometimes."
In Aberdeen, the clearance rate in solving crimes was 37 percent last year, compared to 38 percent in Bel Air, 25 percent in Havre de Grace, and 34 percent in Harford County; those rates include property crimes such as theft and violent crimes such as murder. The clearance rate for Baltimore in 2011 was 19 percent, which factors in 197 homicides and 17,010 thefts.
Aberdeen Mayor Michael E. Bennett said he is confident that local police, with the cooperation of the region's law enforcement network, will arrest the man who is believed to have hid in Ripken's garage early July 24 and abducted her at gunpoint. She was bound and placed in her 1998 Lincoln Town Car, according to police, and driven around Central Maryland for 24 hours before being dropped off, uninjured, near her home. The suspect is considered armed and dangerous.
"I would give them an A-plus-plus," Bennett said of the Aberdeen police. "They have been exemplary. I can't put a time frame on it, but we'll get ahold [of] the guy who did this, and he will be brought to justice."
Bennett, who was elected in 2007, spent 40 years in law enforcement with the Maryland State Police.
Tracking down the suspect and piecing together details of the crime will take significant coordination and legwork, Bennett said, adding that that was the case with finding the video that showed the suspect shopping the night of the abduction at a store in Anne Arundel County. Police are refusing to to identify the store or the time the video was taken.
The police are also prioritizing and chasing down dozens of tips that have come into a 24-hour hot line set up for the case, Bennett said.
The person leading the investigation is Aberdeen Police Chief Henry Trabert, who has been in charge of the department for a little more than a year, Bennett said. Trabert has worked for the department for more than 20 years and was selected over 50 applicants by an independent professional recruiting firm hired by the city, Bennett said.
Trabert pledged early in the investigation that police would pursue every clue, but he hasn't spoke publicly since then and has been unavailable for interviews.
Lt. Fred Budnick, the spokesman for Aberdeen police, released no new details Wednesday, and Ripken's family continued to stay mum. Police released a 35-second video and a sketch of the suspect Tuesday.
Other law enforcement agencies, including the Anne Arundel County Police Department, have deferred to the Aberdeen police for updates.
Doug Ward, director of the Public Safety Leadership Division at the Johns Hopkins University and a former state police major, said police probably know much more than they're releasing to the public in the case.
"It's just strange; it's not your normal kidnapping," Ward said. "A potentially dangerous criminal is on the loose. The most important piece to focus on is to make a arrest."
Kidnapping statistics for Maryland do not exist. The crime is tracked as part of other incidents, such as robbery or rape or murder. Anecdotally, experts say, kidnapping typically involves noncustodial parents abducting their own children; when adults are abducted, robbery is often a motive.
Cassilly, the Harford County prosecutor, said the area's "attitude of cooperation" will help police, especially because the suspect allegedly drove Ripken throughout the region.
"I don't think it makes any difference whether it's a small [police] department or a big department," Cassilly said. "They're literally getting help from anybody who has input on this. They are not restricted in terms of who they can turn to for assistance."
Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton contributed to this article.
Aberdeen crime data
In 2011, 671 crimes were committed in Aberdeen, and the local police department made 637 arrests. Here is the breakdown on some of the offenses committed and arrests made:
Homicides: one reported; one homicide arrest made.
Rape: four reported; four arrests.
Robbery: 34 reported; 10 arrests.
Larceny: 458 reported; 118 arrests.
Source: Maryland Uniform Crime Report


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City of BendHome Menu
Calendar of Events
This calendar displays City of Bend meetings and events only. For community events, please see the Visit Bend Events Calendar.
Landmarks Commission
- Date: 06/18/2019 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
- Location: Council Chambers (City Hall)
710 NW Wall St
Bend, Oregon 97703

subset: commoncrawl


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Page One
Public Asks How Council Voted in Closed Session
The public doesn't know exactly what the Berkeley City Council voted on at last Thursday's closed-door session. And it doesn't know how each elected official voted.
The closed-session meeting was called to discuss a possible appeal to the decision by Judge Barbara Miller against the city over the construction of an athletic center next to Memorial Stadium, which is traversed by an earthquake fault.
An open session where some 70 people addressed the council—several dozen were turned away due to time constraints—preceded the executive session.
After the closed-door meeting, Mayor Tom Bates announced in a terse public statement that the council "decided not to take action."
Had the council made an affirmative decision, either voting to appeal the lawsuit or voting not to appeal it, it would have been required to disclose the precise decision and the council vote, according to Acting City Attorney Zach Cowan.
Some members of the public are angry about constraints placed on the information revealed about the closed-door vote and also object to two other limitations placed on their input into the discussion of an appeal. One was the public not getting access to a letter sent to the council by the university outlining a settlement, a letter received by councilmembers earlier that same day.
The other was the issue of disallowing full public comment on the question of an appeal. The meeting was held in the council chambers, which limited the number of people present at the meeting.
The number of people who could comment was also constrained by scheduling the public portion of the meeting so that it ran directly into a 7 p.m. zoning board meeting.
Disclosing the decision
Attorney Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, said he had to concur with what he said was Cowan's "technically right" interpretation of the Brown Act, the state's open meeting law, which says that the City Council is not required to reveal a vote when a decision is not made. [See Section 54957.1(a)(2))] [www.cfac.org/Law/BrownAct/Text/ba_text.html]
"The language [of the statute] is odd, ambiguous," Scheer said, wondering whether it could be a drafting error in the law. "We're stuck with the literal language—it is defensible," he said.
So, if the council voted on the question of whether to appeal Miller's ruling against the city, there would have to be five affirmative votes for the city to be obligated to reveal exactly what the council was voting on and who voted in what way.
Scheer told the Planet that if members of the council revealed either their own votes or how others voted, they could be accused of abusing attorney-client privileges. However, Scheer said, the City Council could also vote to reject the city attorney's advice and make the vote public. Cowan concurred.
Former Mayor Shirley Dean, who will face Bates in the November elections, was among those who criticized the council for not revealing particulars of the vote.
"It's important to know where each councilmember stands," Dean said. "It should be part of the public record."
Citizens should know how their councilmembers voted and be able to call them and ask them to explain the reasoning behind their vote, open government activist Gene Bernardi told the Planet.
Bates did not return calls for comment.
The letter
Another question members of the public are asking is why a letter from the university to the council regarding the lawsuit—which many assumed the council discussed in closed session—was not made available to the public so that people could address the questions raised by it before the closed session.
Once correspondence from the public goes to a City Council majority, that correspondence becomes a public document. Cowan told the Planet the public should have gotten copies of the letter, but said it was up to the city clerk's department to make that happen.
Acting City Clerk Deanna Despain called the lapse a "clerical error," given that her staff had brought to the meeting only enough copies for the City Council and a few extras that had been left on the clerk's table.
"I don't know who got them during the craziness of all that," Despain said, referring to the crowded meeting, which was kept orderly by some six to eight uniformed police officers.
City Manager Phil Kamlarz backed up the clerk. "We just got the letter a few hours before the meeting. Deanna got jammed," he said.
Kamlarz said this was not a Brown Act violation and played down the importance of the university's letter in the overall discussion.
"It was not critical—a lot of stuff was put out already," Kamlarz said. "It's just a question of logistics."
The letter was given to members of the public by Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who made copies at his council office after the meeting. The press and public asked for it after the mayor had disclosed its existence in a press briefing after the open session announcement.
Michael Kelly, president of the Panoramic Hill Association said, contrary to Kamlarz' belief, he thinks not giving the letter to the public before the public comment period was a critical error. The Panoramic Hill Association was one of the three entities, including the city and the Oaks Foundation, that sued the university. The Panoramic Hill Association and the Oaks Foundation have filed an appeal and encouraged the city to do so as well.
While the university letter recapitulates a number of concessions the university had already offered, including reducing the number of parking spaces for the project, reducing the number of events at Memorial Stadium, replacing trees eliminated by the project and creating an emergency access road in the Panoramic Hill area, it strongly advised the city not to appeal.
The letter says that these "positions"—the reduced number of parking spaces, etc.—are "contingent on the city's agreement not to file an appeal to the current litigation and not to file any future legal challenge to the Memorial Stadium project."
Kelly told the Planet there were issues he would have wanted to raise with the council based on the letter, which also addresses an accelerated schedule for rehabilitation of the stadium.
"These issues weren't revealed to those of us who wanted to speak" at the open session, Kelly said.
Kelly said had he known about the letter, he would have been able to address its contents when he spoke to the council. "The reality is that in the city, there are citizens who have been paying attention to the project and understand it better than the council. I've spend the last two and a half years of my life working on it," he said.
Public comment cut
The public is permitted to address every item of every council meeting, including closed sessions. However, there wasn't an opportunity for everyone who had come to speak to the council to do so.
The mayor called the special closed session meeting in the City Council chambers at 5 p.m. on Thursday, just two hours before the zoning board was scheduled to meet there.
The open council session was therefore scheduled to end at 6:55 p.m.
Hundreds of people showed up, many of them desiring to speak. Several dozen people were waiting their turn to speak at 6:30 p.m. The mayor took a 10-minute break at which time he directed those in line to fill out cards and put them in a drum, from which people would be chosen to speak in the remaining 15 minutes of speaker time.
"The mayor cut off a whole group of people," Dean said. "We don't know what those people were going to say—that bothers me."
Further, Dean said she thought the meeting should have been moved to a place where the large crowd could be handled—people lined up outside the council chamber and rotated in. "It needed to be in a place that could handle the crowd," she said.
City manager Phil Kamlarz said there is no other venue in the city that can hold a large crowd and where the meeting can be televised. (He noted that city staff was looking at the possibility of moving the council chambers permanently to the adult school.)
Further, Dean pointed to the two instances during the meeting where Worthington asked to be recognized so that he could pose a question to one of the speakers.
One of those instances was when Worthington wanted to ask Michael Kelly his estimate of the cost for an appeal—information he wanted to have for the closed- door discussion, he told the Planet later—but the mayor refused to recognize him.
"Questions from councilmembers are always allowed," Dean said. "I don't believe the mayor had the right to say, 'I don't see you.'"


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"That should be a movie," someone might say if they read the true story behind Ben Affleck's Argo. It's larger-than-life but not beyond the bounds of credibility. But there are plenty of movies "based on true stories", and plenty of those movies are failures. Affleck avoids the true-story pitfalls by not making the hard-sell or simply tacking on the "based on a true story" title in order to lend much-needed credibility. Despite the necessities of condensing and finessing history in order to suit a dramatic narrative, Argo always feels real. It lives in its setting without feeling corny or overcooked. With Affleck's confident direction and Chris Terrio's sharp script, Argo is a rare thriller that uses brains instead of bullets.
Argo grabs the audience from the get-go with the use of the 1970s Warner Bros. logo and some sly fake scratches on a film that was shot digitally. We then get a brief but entertaining history lesson on the events leading up to the 1979 Iranian uprising that led to the capture of the American embassy, and the forced captivity of those inside. However, six employees managed to escape before the embassy was overtaken, and they took refuge in the house of the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). 69 days after the overthrow, the U.S. State Department has a bad idea to get the six Americans out by using bicycles. CIA ex-filtration specialist Tony Mendez (Affleck) has a "better bad idea": have the six Americans pose as a Canadian film crew scouting a location for the fake sci-fi fantasy film, "Argo", and smuggle them out of the country.
Affleck has to manage the difficulty of maintaining the seriousness of the operation while still delivering some comic levity, which comes into play when Mendez heads to Hollywood to enlist the help of makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman) and producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin). Affleck manages to throw in a lot of good jokes in the Hollywood segment, but he never loses sight of the larger story. There's one particularly memorable scene where he cuts back and forth between a table read of "Argo" and the abuse of the hostages inside the American embassy. The scene could have easily come off as too darkly comic or painfully awkward, but Affleck's assured direction makes the scene remarkably compelling.
Where he runs into a bit of trouble is in transitioning from the Hollywood stage of the plan to getting the six Americans on board. Terrio's script isn't based on twists and turns as much as it's about throwing up obstacles and finding ways around them, so we know the Americans will eventually sign on to Mendez' plan. While the Americans' reluctance is believable, Affleck spends a bit too much time on it, and the movie's tight pacing begins to slightly sag as we hit moments that emphasize a point we already understand: the mission is fraught with peril.
Thankfully, Argo quickly moves into its third act, and doesn't let up on the gas. Watching the complications of Mendez' plan puts us right into the middle of the action to where we can hear the rapid, pounding heartbeat of the ex-filtration specialist and his fake film crew. The third act has clearly been the most punched-up real events, but it doesn't matter because the strength of the direction, performances, script, and the pacing make the outsized events a delightful and quick-witted thrill ride. The solution isn't about guns blazing. It's about holding your breath and hoping that a harebrained scheme will pay off.
Ben Affleck has yet again proven himself one of the better directors working today. He makes movies for adults by never pandering to the easy thrill or the simple emotional payoff. He refuses to set up Argo as a facile "Good Americans" vs. "Bad Iranians" story. In fact, he goes out of his way to make sure we understand the complexities of the conflict, and why the Iranians would be so hostile towards innocent Americans. Affleck constantly plays to the reality of the fantastical situation, and while Argo may be stranger than fiction, it's also pretty damn entertaining.
Rating: 8.6 out of 10
For all of our TIFF 2012 coverage, click here. Here are links to all of my TIFF 2012 reviews:


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Cursed by the Gods
Undead Abomination
After leaving the sheriff behind in the custody of the village priest, the Ely, Rana and company continued on to Elder Daven.
They nearly fell victim to a strangely clean ogre that was plying the "trade" on the road to Elder Daven.
Heinrich managed to sneak up behind him and attempted to hamstring him but failed. When the ogre finally got the chance to go on the offensive, Heinrich found himself with a 50-pound great axe lodged in his left shoulder.


text:
By Brian Klein, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Brian P. Klein is an economic consultant and former U.S. diplomat who was based in China. The views expressed are his own.
In a rare and telling diplomatic snub this week, China refused to send People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan to the IMF/World Bank meeting held in Tokyo. The slight, related to the ongoing stand-off with Japan over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea, says more about China's prospects for greater global leadership than a bilateral territorial disagreement.
For several years now, China's economy has grown along with its ambitions for recognition. Internationalizing the yuan as a reserve currency, more influence over international lending institutions and respect as a leading business and financial center have been chief among them.
But the meeting boycott this week marks the latest in a string of retaliatory acts, including using informal trade measures meant to punish countries acting in ways China dislikes. Imports from the Philippines, for example, were suddenly subjected to enhanced inspection and quarantine over a dispute in the South China Sea. Rare earth exports critical to Japan's electronics industry were also halted in a 2010 island spat after Japan detained a Chinese fishing vessel captain whose ship rammed a Japan Coast Guard vessel. These steps suggest a troubling and regressive tendency in Chinese foreign economic policy.
Since joining the World Trade Organization back in 2001, Beijing has enjoyed many of the benefits of membership while at the same time using protectionist measures to give domestic industries significant advantage. Trade has been used increasingly as a political tool contravening over a decade of engagement to keep these two policy spheres apart.
Refusing to attend the annual international finance meeting will further damage China's hopes for greater recognition. At a time when the risks of global recession are increasing, retrenchment adds doubts about any potential leadership role. While Beijing might think its status as the world's second largest economy makes it vital to any discussion, the reality is that the world continues to turn without it.
Xi Jinping and the rest of China's new leaders in waiting inherit a country in transition. Rising domestic wage pressure, a slowing economy, and renewed doubts about the security of joint venture intellectual property suggest China's global economic influence may soon flag, not inexorably rising. If slower growth becomes a trend rather than a temporary blip and anti-Japanese business sentiment grows into a broader missive against foreign companies, the lure of China's growing market would dim significantly.
Embracing the complexities of international discourse rather than shying away from them mark an important maturing stage. Equally important are policies that further open and encourage reform that increases international participation in China's domestic economy. This enhances both the perception and reality that China is dedicated to continued global integration. Pulling a no-show at an international gathering in a neighboring country does not.
China is a bully bent on domination,a not too attrative to reign the leadership among nations.
Chinks will be chinks. We need to cut off trade with the chinks and let them go farm rice again.
Idiot will be idiot, even with all the education available in the States, Lol still manage to talk like this, WOW!
first of all this article is late. in addition, the position of this article is clearly biased. go on sfgate and read the article related to this one to get a more open-minded analysis of the situation. this absence was a protest against unfair territorial divisions that have never been addressed properly, not a whimsical decision. we shall see how the world economy goes when China decides not to play nice anymore; don't forget to consider the U.S. debt to China.
LOL you are just a racist hiding behind a nickname
LOL you are just a racist
And kwok zuckers like you have a kwok zucking mouth.
firstly I just want to ask how old are you.You are Staying in your home for long time and do not have a knowledge of the outside world,exceptionally China.Cutting off trade with China will do harm to both side,only idiot will do something like this,you are the one;
Lol is a lunatic who wants to incite hatred among cultures. Ignore it and don't fall into the trap. "It" is not an American based on its use of language. Even if "it" is, don't blame all Americans for it. "it" is only a mad dog that bites randomly.
I can't understand you! Ching chang chong, chinga changi chinki chong. You follow?
I hate chinks too bro.
Chinks are the ugliest Asians.
I can't wait to get round-eye surgery!
I'm a chink lover, but they no love me back!
All chinks want to come to USA.
hey watch ur mouth! don't put your country's reputation tarred and feathered. even though china may be a pain in the ass, using pejorative phrase would avail you nothing but damage your credibility
Sounds like a plan.
@lol, stupidity is the only word that describes you, sad
The first one to go farm rice si your country.
I can see China forced you to bend over. I can also see you are forced to zuck Chinese kwoks.
This snub is vastly superior to fabricated claims for waging war and killing hundreds of thousands of innocents on a nonthreatening country (think Iraq). Articles like this totally lack perspective. The invasion of Iraq, an independent non-threatening sovereign nation, by us discredits ALL discussion of being an international responsible stakeholder. And it doesn't end there. We are commonly the standout on many international treaties, e.g. UN resolutions on Israel, Kyoto, UNCLOS, landmines, etc. etc. etc. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
If we snubbed these chinks they'd cry racism. Stupid communist rice farmers.
Why don't you speak your own chink language instead of using English, because it's the world's official language and your chink language isn't ?
Your messages represent sophisticated RedNeck English! Pethetic!
folks what happens if I use the "n" word? Forum police may leave me alone to sprout more garbage?
Why don't you stuff your kwok zucking mouth with a big black dudo?
No understand you. Ching chang Chong Chingi chanki Chink Chong. You follow?
where are you from?english is used after lots of people were killed.you will speak chinese if china kill the people from all over the world.
You are pretty stupid, go get an education.
I totally agree. We should not wage war against Iraq. We should all do it like PRC and kill tens of millions of our own people instead. Every nation must civilized now and kill at least 80 million of its own people.
@Bill Rich,
I thought you already did. They were once called the American natives.
this site is jammed.
Christine Lagarde wasn't amused and appeared to scold Chinese and J apanese leaders like school children. She told them their countries are too important to the world economy to be "distracted by territorial division".
China is more concerned about a smooth transition of leadership after months of distraction. No senior politician wants to be seen in J apan right now. One has learned that in times of political flux, it is best to keep one's head down and never look soft on issues of nationalism and territorial sovereignty.
The Chinese leaders don't want to be seen with you zucking their kwok either.
This article is garbage. Fact: The Philippines was warned of their pest infested bananas half a year before the consequent import restrictions. That it happened at the time of heightened tensions is incidental. Integrity in journalism has gone down the toilet of late. CHECK YOUR FACTS.
How about the case of Norway where its export salmon was left rotting by China after the Nobel Peace award of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010? I believe until now China doesn't have its relation with Norway normalize due to the Nobel affair.
Dick head, how about the fact that Oba Mao received a Nobel peace prize for his continuation of sending U.S. soldiers to commit crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Chinks are evil. They will let your produce rot, and then claim health concerns for rejecting it.
You silly chink, all I hear is chink chank chong.
You silly Lol, all I hear is Blah, Blah, Blah....
You silly kwok zucker. All I see is kum ozzing out of your kwok zucking mouth.
Russians are better than Chinks.
They can be blindfolded with dental floss!
chink name is not bobby, chink name is chinky chang chong.
I can't believe there are people as stupid as Bobby Jon.
He's paid chink.
When will companies & nations ever learn that China is not a friend ? Keep buying products made in China and keep making them rich. Once they're in power you'll see extent of their bullying.
The US is a bigger threat to everyone, just look at your history of wars after WWII.
QUIT THROWING STONES WHILE YOU'RE IN A GLASS HOUSE..... unless you're looking to severely injure yourself, which is what the US media is doing to it's credibility!
You should go learn Chinese history. They are in the process of repeating history but in a greater scale. They dominated Vietnam for 1000 years and fight among group of people living in the place what you now called China, This time, they will try to take everyone down. Just look at what they can do to their own people. If you don't believe me, go to China and say something the government and see if you can still can come out.
I really don't like chinks, or their evil plans. They pay me to say good things about chinks.
Racist copycat, LOL, you will get no where in life! & karma will get you back for being such a narrow minded hateful person!!!
The one refuse to buy China's goods will put him finger in the fire!
I agree the US is bad. Wait til China comes to power. It will even be worse than the US. The US is hampered by religion and democracy. China does not have those limitations. Take forced abortions for example. One child per family. China does not have to follow the morals of any religion. It does not require that people vote in favor of laws. It will crush the tiny countries in Asia. It does not hesitate to silence people or groups of people who do not march to their beat.
For those who think the Chinese Gov. is friendly, I hope they will soon see their real face. Do we get news like the Chinese Gov. is harassing and killing innocent Vietnamese fishermen on CNN or US news. I haven't seen one yet.
Do not worry friend, we hate Chinks in USA. We just need to find way to do it legally.
I think you may want to give an example of how religion and democracy helped to stop the war to Iraq. Maybe taking the fake evidence to UN and pray: oh, God, please don't let them know that the stuff in this bottle is all just some salt. LOL
I love chinks, but they never give me love me back!
Does China wanna become India and have millions homeless starving kids running around in streets? no. So before you judge its one child policy, think about 1.6 billion people with each family having 5, 6 kids and the problem this will quickly post to the rest of the world.
If the "n" word is not allowed on most public media, nor the "j" or the insultint "k" word, why is CNN allowing the useless insults like "chink". Those are pure trash persons. I won't mind if you let them continue racially attacking my race, just then leave the n words in too and what kind of jungle you get. Don't mistake sophisticated Chinese persons for being stupid or afraid. We just look down on the behavior of your news orgazation as another Fox rag.
Chinks will be chinks.
I want round-eye surgery! I tired of being a chink!
Are racists like lol allowed in the US? Is CNN not ashamed? Should I call the police?
I love chinks, they just don't love me back.
Which police you gonna call? The Chinese Internet police? They have no jurisdiction here.
I don't live in the US. I live in the slum. I have reason to be bitter.
After traveling thru China for 15+ years and living there for 4+, the simple fact is the CCP leadership are NOT sophisticated enough to manage a country as complex as China's.
Until the last old remainders of Mao's Red Guard thugs die-off, China has no hopes of playing nicely with the civilised children.
Even educated Chinese nationals predict the 'red' flag will soon change its colors... 15 years; Max.
DJ, you have interesting observations. So for the past 14 years, China moved backward instead of forward under CCP's bad management? Where did you go and what did you see?
It seems that America get insanely jealous of China's development
I don't think anyone is jealous of a blood sucker.
Oh, they do. If India is as strong as China today, the Americans will be jealous about their left hands.
You are right again friend. Chinks steal all technology and factory from USA. They are chinks, nothing to be proud of. Thieves!
Get over it. Even the US also snubs Ahmadinejad's UN speech in home country at New York.
"Editor's note: Brian P. Klein is an economic consultant and former U.S. diplomat who was based in China. The views expressed are his own."
It should have been written like this: Editor's note: Brian P. Klein is just a typical American kwok zucking kwok zucker employed as diplomat to badmouth China. The view is everyone's and it's a known fact.
I am ashamed of China's evil.
I suggest that if you want to say something about China,you'd better say after you go to china and have a look,Otherwise, close your mouth.
Number one army. Number two economy. Number seven world's highest concentration of millionaires. God bless China and I feel sorry for anyone passed this super power off. Long live the Communist ideology. China and Russia
China will surely burn in hell.
I and China sincerely apologize to the rest of the world for having our collective heads up our communist holes. See, years of repression have rendered us so sensitive that we feel the need to go to war over anybody that says anything negative about us. After all, we made the first computer in 1998 and are so awesome that the whole world should but worship us.
Oh in case you guys don't know this. Most Chinese supports the war. It's National pride. Some may say there is a resemblance between Communism and National socialism. Btw we don't care about anyone's comments especially from CNN comment section. Haters going to hate no matter what. Lol
You name Rick and you a chink? Rick is not chink name??
CNN is now the S..t hole where cowardly racists like Lol reside. I am surprised CNN dies not care.
I love chinks, but they no love me back!
if you really love chinese, then you should know what 'chinks' mean to chinese and you still used it ?
Please speaka English here.
Let the foreign multinational abandon factories in China, Let see what happen to them.
They bullying Asian neighbors.
Don't trade with this communist, Majority of fake products are made in China.
I'm a lunatic. I need attention! If you don't give it to me, I'll bite you like a mad dog. Save me, save me please!
I did something really bad to my moms and sisters but I can't stop. I need someone else to blame. I need help. I want to stop but I can't. I smell and people run away from me whenever I'm near. I want to die. I know I deserve it but I'm a coward. Help, help, help......
Most of the loudest mouths in here are Vietnamese and Philipinos. Americans maybe bigoted and narrow-minded but they tend not to be as openly crude as these folks and their English is usually not sub-standard. LOL .
Don't forget us! We Indians have better Ignlish!
Oh really. Americans are "loud mouth braggarts", that's the fact.
Go and bow to your chinese boss, else he'll fire you.
I agree. This article is one sided. But then the author was a US diplomat. What did you expect??
test for it .
:< why is there no report button? this has turned into racial bashing. cept for the joke about the kwok zucking... that actually made me smile. But the ones that are derogatory copy and pastes? Jeez...
Also, I love this article because yes, if China thinks this snub will have other nations begging for forgiveness, it has its head too far up a dark place. Other countries are annoyed, and some may understand the extent of national pride in its politics, which owns its banks, but theyre not going GAIN anything from the snub.
If friends come, there is fine wine
But if the wolves come
Those who greet them have hunting guns
是的!exactly! 希望我们的政府采取更强硬一些的行动来夺回钓鱼岛。怎样才能一剑封喉,而不会在亚洲板块上引发大的动荡?
look your comments.i feel bad.of course i am a chinese.i don't know why you hate china or chinese or so called chinks!i just want to say thank for watching what ia happening in china.everyone has different viewpoint at one thing.you never know the real china if you never come to this country.the real china is wonderful even though there still has lots if poor people,i think US has lots of poor people.
by the way,US has token lots of misery to the people who live in middle east,you think US has given them democracy.but the people who died in the wars won't enjoy the so called democracy.and more people is suffering for the disturbance.you bad Amercian is the source of the evil.chinese love piece.the US will be removed from the map if chian has enough power.and i think the day is coming.
us has no its culture.you have to acknowledge it.
in the end,every country always does for itself.so close you mouth and go to sleep.
Mr Brian P. Klein ,Why do you always have to talk nonsense?Why can't you just tell the truth?I want to know if abusing China is your greatest interest?
In the past 34 years, the Chinese government has been committed to the development of economy and the improvement of people's life,but the United States government has been curbing China's developmentat any time .Yankees
take trade protectionism and banned zte and huawei company' investment in us, Incite neighboring countries surrounding China against China.Always act as international police at any time Interfering the internal affairs of other nations,as the biggest war crazy killed countless innocent people every year.Only You and your american Is the biggest unscrupulous.
Damn it, please close your mouth.
well, that is true.


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Vega VV01 launch campaign
The first Vega launch campaign began on 7 November 2011 at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana with the installation of the P80 first stage on the launch pad.
The two solid-propellant second and third stages, the Zefiro-23 and Zefiro-9, were then transferred from the Vega Booster Storage and Preparation Building and added to the vehicle.
All three stages underwent final acceptance, including testing of their thrust vector control system. The next step was to mate the AVUM – Attitude & Vernier Upper Module – liquid-propellant fourth stage to the vehicle.
The 'upper composite' – the fairing and payload – was moved to the pad and integrated on 24 January.
It was followed by the final checkout of the fully assembled launcher and the countdown rehearsal.
Vega flight VV01 lifted off at 10:00 GMT (11:00 CET, 07:00 local time) on 13 February 2012 from its new launch pad, and conducted a flawless qualification flight.


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High school teacher and basketball coach Ray Drecker, the character whose defining physical attribute inspired the title for HBO's "Hung," moonlights for an outfit euphemistically called "Happiness Consultants."
But his life, as we learned in Season 1, is anything but bliss: he's struggling to rebuild his modest home after a fire. He's on the verge of losing his day job at the school where he was once a sports hero, thanks to budget cuts. He's dealing with a shallow ex-wife and two teenage kids with love-life issues of their own.
And, oh yeah, when we last left him, two novice pimps were cat-fighting over who gets to hawk his services as a male prostitute to lonely ladies.
"Hung," we're glad to report, returns to HBO Sunday night to further explore territory that's less "American Gigolo" than American Dream.
The show, which takes place outside of economically devastated Detroit, is riddled with broken dreams. There's forty-something Ray (Thomas Jane), whose life never lived up to high school expectations. There's Tanya (Jane Adams), the neurotic failed poet and baker (her laminated poems baked into bread flopped), who's also not much of pimp. There's Ray's ex, Jessica (Anne Heche), whose new marriage to a dull dermatologist sours after she discovers he's in financial straits.
"Hung," is in some respects, echoes "Men of a Certain Age," the surprising strong Ray Romano humor-infused drama from this past TV season that traces the lives of three friends struggling with aging in a time of harsh economic realities and ever-changing definitions of manhood.
But "Hung," at times, plays on a more heightened level. Like Gypsy Rose Lee, an expert in the art of exposure, the creators of "Hung" know you've gotta have a gimmick.
Still, the show, whose premise portended a (long) one-note joke, quickly established itself as a quality program that's less about sex than nagging sadness and uncertainty.
Strong writing and acting provided some great Season 1 moments: a drunken Ray hitting baseballs hurled by an old rival whose glory days also ended with high school. Ray getting into a "relationship" with a high-powered executive who pays him a fortune to play an elaborate mind game that gives her a sense of revenge against men who dumped her in the past. He allows himself to get sucked in, and ultimately feels pain money can't quell after she discards him. Then there was the insecure Tanya melting down in front of her academician mother and snooty artsy friends when called on to read one of her poems.
The show is almost about Tanya as much it is about Ray – an odd couple who met at a crossroads after taking different paths to desperation. There are new forks in the road looming this coming season as the duo's journey into their shared secret lives deepens.
The obnoxious Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff), old office-job nemesis of Tanya who has done well prostituting herself, in a sense, as a personal shopper and all-around-pal-for-hire for bored rich ladies, is battling to add Ray to her portfolio. Ray, out of loyalty to the ineffectual Tanya, tells the two women to work together, boding for a stormy threesome.
One of Lenore's clients is Ray's ex-wife, who unwittingly hires him in last season's finale. He figures out it's her in the hotel room and leaves before she sees him. What could have easily been played as a door-slamming bedroom farce, ended poignantly with Ray calling Jessica and telling her she's a good mother.
"Hung," which showed surprising, well, stamina, in its first season, hopefully will pick up where it left off as the show delves further into the true measure of a man – and of happiness.
No matter what his physical gifts, like most of us these days, Ray Drecker has a lot hanging over his head.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NY City News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is the former City Editor of the New York Daily News, where he started as a reporter in 1992. Follow him on Twitter.


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It doesn't matter whether you're a seasoned mountain biker, or you're simply keen to start cycling but don't know what bike to choose. Here at Bicycle Superstore, we're all about encouraging our customers to embrace a healthier and more active lifestyle, which means we have the range of MTB for sale to suit those at all stages of their cycling. From mountain dominating machines, to the perfect beginner model, our range is as diverse as our customers.
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Not sure where to test out your new beast? Speak to our gang, as mountain biking enthusiasts themselves, they'll know the best trails to suit your level of experience. Find our closest store to your location, or send us an email at today firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Mid-Town® Shower-Only Trim Kit, without Showerhead
Product #: D500562LSTC
$243.00 – $316.00
Mid-Town® trim kit now includes the new Gerber® Treysta® Ceramic Disc Pressure Balance Cartridge. A Gerber Treysta rough-in valve body is required, and is sold separately.
- Cartridge Type: Includes Treysta® Ceramic Disc Pressure Balance Cartridge, GA510015
- Valve Type: Pressure Balance
- Integral Check Valve: Integral Check Valves in Cartridge Body to Prevent Cross-Flow
- Warranty: Danze products are covered by our manufacturer's lifetime limited warranty for manufacturing defects
- Height: 65"-80" (1651mm-2032mm)
- Width: 6 3/4" (172mm)
- Depth: 13 3/8" (340mm)
- Showerarm Length & Material: 12 1/2" Brass Shower Arm
- ADA: ADA Compliant (Lever Handle Only)
- cUPC: Yes
Specification Sheet
Installation Manual
Illustrated Parts List
- For use with Gerber® Treysta® Rough-In Valves, G00GS50 or G00GS52 Series, Sold Separately
- Deep wall extension kit, D113001 and Shallow wall extension kit, GA663B11, sold separately


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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 25, 2013) – In a CEV Champions League battle between teams with U.S. setters, Donald Suxho and Italy's Diatec Trentino defeated Kawika Shoji, Scott Touzinsky and Germany's Berlin Recycling Volleys, 25-20, 21-25, 29-27, 25-21, on Oct. 24 in Trento, Italy.
|Kawika Shoji sets for the Berlin Recycling Volleys in their match against Diatec Trentino.
Suxho (Korce, Albania) started the first two sets and scored one point with an attack. Trentino finished with a 54.2 hitting efficiency.
Shoji (Honolulu) and Touzinsky (St. Louis, Mo.), who plays at outside hitter, started all four sets. Shoji finished with six points on three attacks, two blocks and one ace. He set Berlin to a 45.3 hitting efficiency. Touzinsky added five points on five attacks. He was also credited with 40 receptions, 68 percent positive.
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- Contact: B.J. Hoeptner Evans
In other Champions League matches this week, David Smith (Saugus, Calif.), Jayson Jablonsky (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and France's Tours Volleyball defeated Bulgaria's Marek Union-Ivkoni Dupnitsa, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 on Oct. 24. Smith started all three sets and scored nine points on four kills, a match-high four blocks and one ace. Jablonsky totaled six points on five kills and one block.
Russia's Zenit Kazan, which includes outside hitter Matt Anderson (West Seneca, N.Y.) fell to Italy's Lube Banca Marche Macerata, 27-25, 25-21, 25-22 on Oct. 22. Anderson started all three sets and scored 10 points on seven kills and three blocks.
Libero Erik Shoji (Honolulu), middle blocker Andy Hein (Carol Stream, Ill.) and Austria's Hypo Tirol Innsbruck fell to Romania's Tomis Constanta, 25-14, 25-21, 22-25, 25-16. Shoji was credited with 14 receptions, 50 percent positive and 43 percent excellent. Hein scored five points on four kills and one block.
Outside hitter Jeff Menzel (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Belgium's Noliko Maaseik fell to Belogorie Belgorod, 25-22, 25-11, 25-18 on Oct. 23. Menzel scored 13 points on 13 kills.
Suxho and Diatec Trentino finished third at the FIVB Men's Club World Championships on Oct. 15-20 in Betim in Brazil.
In the bronze medal match on Oct. 20, Trentino defeated Argentina's UPCN, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19. Suxho started all four sets. He did not score but was credited with 25 running sets and helped his team to a 53.5 kill percent.
Libero Dustin Watten (Long Beach, Calif.) is playing for Moda/Maringa in Brazil's Superleague. For an update on his experiences, click here.
Opposite Murphy Troy (St. Louis, Mo.) scored a match-high 29 points as St-Nazaire defeated Sete, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17 on Oct. 19. Troy scored on a match-high 25 attacks and four blocks.
Middle blocker Futi Tavana scored eight points on two attacks, five blocks and one ace as his team Toulouse fell to Montpellier, 15-25, 22-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-13 on Oct. 19.
Jablonsky scored 15 points and Smith added nine as their French team Tours fell to Beauvais, 23-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-12 on Oct. 18.
Menzel scored 20 points as Noliko Maaseik defeated VC Argex Duvel Puurs, 23-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-13 in Belgium's league. Menzel scored on 16 kills, three blocks and one ace.
VC Euphony Asse-Lennik, which includes middle blocker Jacek Ratajczak (Warsaw, Poland), defeated VBC Waremme on Oct. 19, 25-15, 25-13, 25-22. Ratajczak finished with 10 points on five kills, four blocks and one ace.


text: This month, researchers are inaugurating the Event Horizon Telescope, a project that will try to take the first detailed pictures of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. This observation would be a remarkable achievement, underscoring the progress that has been made in black-hole research in just the last few decades. As recently as the 1970s, astronomers still argued over whether black holes were theoretical constructs or real physical objects. They now have ample evidence that black holes are not only real, but abundant in the cosmos. Here on Earth, advanced computer simulations have given astronomers a wealth of information, leading theoretical physicist Kip Thorne of Caltech to suggest that black-hole research is entering a new golden age. "There is now a program of observations that I expect will bring us some big surprises and hopefully validate the predictions from these simulations," he said. Yet it's still strange to imagine what the area around a black hole looks like. After all, a black hole is an object from which nothing, including light, can escape. In this gallery, we look at some of the predictions that researchers have made about viewing a black hole. Above: Black Hole Dead Ahead If you could get up close and personal with a black hole, there might not be much to see. You couldn't observe the black hole itself, and instead would only glimpse its event horizon — a spherical boundary inside of which nothing can escape. The black hole itself would sit at the event horizon's center as a point of infinite density known as a singularity. The great amount of mass at this point would stretch the fabric of space-time, bending light coming from behind and creating a gravitational lens. If you were at a distance of about 375 miles, a black hole 10 times the mass of the sun might appear like the above image. Light from the background Milky Way galaxy is highly distorted, revealing the location of the black hole. Image: Ute Kraus, Physics education group Kraus, Universität Hildesheim, Space Time Travel, (background image of the milky way: Axel Mellinger)Central Black Hole Researchers have long studied the enormous black hole at the center of our galaxy, whose mass is more than 2 million times our sun. As seen in the above simulation, an unlucky cloud of gas and dust could get caught up in the black hole's relentless gravitational pull. Spiraling inward, this mass would be torn apart, with some parts flung off and others slowly consumed. Despite their fearsome reputation, black holes are not cosmic vacuum cleaners that draw everything into their hungry maw. Objects can form stable orbits around them without getting sucked in. As seen in the simulation, stars near the black hole are tugged around like planets orbiting a star but don't necessarily fall inward. Video: ESO/MPE/M. Schartmann/L. CalçadaThe Accretion Disk Material that falls into a black hole usually doesn't go directly in. Instead, gas and dust form an accretion disk that spirals around the black hole like water circling a drain. These accretion disks have unexpected properties. Though astronomers have yet to fully understand the process, the gas and dust generate strong magnetic fields as they fall in and emit copious amounts of energy. This energy is shot out as two jets of material, often traveling a significant fraction of the speed of light. The above schematic depicts what these jets might look like up close, though astronomers have also captured the powerful emissions in images, such as the one below of galaxy M87 taken by the Hubble space telescope. Occasionally, these jets will turn off for a short time, building up energy and eventually shooting off massive "bullets" of material. Images: 1) NASA 2) NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)Space-Time Gordian Knot In the last year, powerful computer simulations have brought the area around a black hole into focus. Theoretical physicist Kip Thorne and his colleagues have modeled the complex equations of general relatively around a black hole and uncovered a host of previously unknown ways that they can bend and warp space-time. For instance, a spinning black hole produces ripples in the fabric of space-time known as vortexes, depicted as an intricate tangle of lines emerging from the black hole. The consequences are highly chaotic, creating the whirlwind-like behavior seen in the above visualization. Vortex lines have an odd effect on space-time. If you oriented your body along a vortex line, your head would start to turn relative to your feet, wringing you like a towel. Blue lines in the above video correspond to a clockwise twist while red lines denote counterclockwise movement. Video: The Caltech/Cornell SXS CollaborationThat's Got to Hurt Let's say you wanted to see a black hole up close but then you got too near and fell in. That sucks. Just what will happen to your body as you dive into the abyss? Until recently, all that researchers knew was that the difference in gravity between your head and your feet would stretch you out like a noodle. New simulations from theoretical physicist Kip Thorne and his colleagues show the actual experience would be even more agonizing and bizarre. Around a black hole, the formulas that govern space-time break up into two separate components. One part, the vortex lines, twists space-time clockwise or counterclockwise, putting your body through the wringer. The other components, known as tendex lines, stretch and squeeze the curvature of space-time. An astronaut falling toward the equator of a black hole would get pulled apart like taffy while one going to the polar region would get flattened like a pancake. These effects were so new that Thorne's team had to come up with a new term to describe them. While vortex -- coming from the Latin word vortere, 'to turn,' -- already exists, Thorne's graduate student, David Nichols, coined the word tendex, which comes from the Latin tendere, 'to stretch.' Image: Nichols, D. et al., Phys. Rev. D 84, 124014 (2011)Double Black Hole The behavior of space-time around a black hole becomes extremely complex when considering two merging black holes. Researchers think this type of event is common, occurring when two black holes form near one another or during the collision of two supermassive black holes at the center of two merging galaxies. This visualization shows two black holes against a simulated dark blue sky background. Below them is a two-dimensional depiction of the fabric of space-time around the black holes. The black holes spiral around each other, speeding up as they merge, and eventually coming together to form a single black hole. Space-time wobbles during this merger, throwing off waves of gravitational energy that researchers hope to one day detect from Earth. Video: The Caltech/Cornell SXS CollaborationGravitational Waves Black hole mergers are expected to be some of the most energetic events in the universe. These powerful collisions should produce ripples in the fabric of space-time, which would travel outward at the speed of light. The above simulation shows how astronomers think these outward traveling waves would appear in the fabric of space-time. Video: The Caltech/Cornell SXS CollaborationA New Window In the next few years, astronomers hope to detect the effects of merging black holes. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a group of facilities working together to spot these gravitational waves as they pass through the Earth. If a gravitational wave passed through the Earth, LIGO's high-precision laser beams would flicker ever so slightly. The collaboration employs two detectors, one in Louisiana and the other in Washington. By determining the difference in detection time between each facility, researchers should be able to pinpoint the strength and location of a source. The LIGO team is currently working to increase their detectors' sensitivity, an upgrade they expect to have done by 2014. The experiments are also working to account for a great deal of background noise. Something as simple as a truck passing outside the observatory could shake the lasers and be mistaken for a signal. That's why many scientists hope to someday see a space-based gravitational wave observatory. The European Space Agency is currently looking to fly the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a set of three satellites that would detect gravity waves, giving astronomers a new window on the universe. NASA was initially going to be a partner on LISA though the agency pulled out in 2011 due to budget cuts. Image: 1) LIGO Laboratory 2) ESA-C. Vijoux


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#Camper's run
# campers-run - Friday 7 October, 2011
The Happy Camper: watch out Wellington, here comes the cavalry
The greening of Wellington is almost complete. But half the Irish in town have tickets to the wrong quarter-final.Share Tweet1
Your sayView more polls
Poll: Are you still using the Covid-19 tracker app?
IT'S A MONTH since the launch of the HSE's new Covid-19 contact tracing app.
Since then, the app has had well over one million downloads, with the take-up rate heralded as being "the most successful launch" of the app anywhere in the world, said HSE CEO Paul Reid last month.
The app is intended to help contact tracing, particularly with people who aren't family and friends, and uses Bluetooth technology to determine whether you've been a close contact of someone who's tested positive for the virus.
Users are encouraged to switch on their Bluetooth settings, and to check in with their symptoms every day. The bluetooth function means that users will be notified via the app if they have been a close contact of a confirmed case.
As cases begin to rise again – particularly in Kildare, Laois and Offaly – health officials fear that transmission could once again spread within the community.
Of the 174 cases reported yesterday, around 50 of them were reported outside of the three counties now under new restrictions.
With that in mind, we want to know: Are you still using the Covid-19 tracker app?
Poll Results:
Online learning is here to stay and Covid-19 changes have pushed it further
Colman Walsh of the UX Design Institute says remote working during the Covid-19 lockdown also spurred on a hunger for remote learning.
Larry Donnelly: American politics is in a bad state and the TV networks aren't helping
Donnelly dismays at the polarised and simplistic discussion of politics in the US from all media sources, not just Fox News.
Opinion: Want to use this time to write a short story? Here are some top tips
Steamed mussels and 'Beeramisu' - two recipes for you from Urban Brewing in Dublin
Dan Keane, head chef at Urban Brewing, shares his lockdown experience and a couple of tasty recipes.
Dublin WeatherChange location
- Sunday Clouds breaking for some sun Max: 18 °C Min: 13 °C
- Monday Clouds and sun with a shower or t-storm Max: 18 °C Min: 14 °C
- Tuesday A thunderstorm in spots in the afternoon Max: 21 °C Min: 13 °C
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Online learning is here to stay and Covid-19 changes have pushed it further
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Hawaii has some of the world's most beautiful and rare woods. This has attracted very talented artists who work in wood to the islands. Our bowls sell quickly, in particular. Shown here is just a small portion of what Maui Hands has to offer at any one time. Let us know what you are looking for and we will send you photos of available pieces.
If you have a question regarding any of the artwork on our website, please contact us.


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UK Immigration, Work Permits and UK Visas
The United Kingdom offers a range of immigration categories. The type of UK Visa for which you should apply will depend on the purpose of your entry to the UK or reason for continued stay in the UK.
UK Visas - The Points Based System
Most immigration categories are covered by the Points Based System. This is comprised of 5 distinct Tiers:
Tier 1 Visas
There are a number of UK Visa categories within Tier 1, including the Tier 1 General Visa category (formerly HSMP) and the Tier 1 Post Study Work (PSW) category (formerly known as the International Graduates Scheme). These visas are intended to allow highly skilled workers to work for any employer in any capacity in the UK without needing the employer to sponsor them. BOTH of these categories are now closed to new applicants.
The Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa and the Tier 1 Investor Visa are available to those wishing to establish a business or invest in the UK.
Tier 2 Work Visas
The Tier 2 category is the replacement for the old Work Permit scheme, including Intra-Company Transfers (ICT), Sportspersons and Ministers of Religion. You need a Certificate of Sponsorship (offer of employment) from the UK employer before you can apply for your Tier 2 Visa.
Tier 4 Student Visas
The Tier 4 Visa category is the replacement for the previous Student Visa category, allowing individuals to study in the UK the potential to extend into Tier 1 of the points-based system if they are successful at a suitable level in their studies.
Tier 5 Visas - Youth Mobility (Working Holidays)
Tier 5 Visas (Youth Mobility) replaced the previous Working Holiday Visa and allow for up to 2 years working in the UK for those between the ages of 18 and 30 from qualifying countries.
If your application is urgent and you will be applying in the UK then we can offer Same Day Visa Processing at the Croydon PEO. Contact us for further information.
We can also help if you need to bring your family or dependants to the UK, perhaps to join you after you have gained your UK work permit or Tier 1 Visa and settled in the UK. You can also find further information on Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and British Citizenship in the UK Immigration section of this web site.


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Food and drink
Spanish cuisine has come a long way in recent years, and Spanish chefs are currently at the forefront of contemporary European cooking. You know a power-shift has taken place when Restaurant magazine's annual "World 50 Best Restaurants" list regularly cites three or four Spanish eateries in the top ten, and when there are more gourmet places in the Basque Country worth making a special trip for than in Paris. There's some fantastic food to be had in every region, and not just the fancy new-wave stuff either – the tapas, gazpacho, tortilla and paella that you may know from home are simply in a different league when made with the correct ingredients in their natural surroundings.
Continue reading to find out more about...
Of course, not every restaurant is a gourmet experience and not every dish is a classic of its kind. Tourist resorts – after all, where many people go – can be disappointing, especially those aimed at a foreign clientele, and a week on one of the costas can just as easily convince you that the Spanish national diet is egg and chips, sangría, pizza and Guinness. However, you'll always find a good restaurant where the locals eat, and few places in Europe are still as good value, especially if you have the menú del día, the bargain fixed-price lunch that's a fixture across the country.
Breakfast, snacks and sandwiches
The traditional Spanish breakfast (desayuno) is chocolate con churros – long, extruded tubular doughnuts served with thick drinking chocolate or coffee. Some places specialize in these but most bars and cafés also serve cakes and pastries (bollos or pasteles), croissants and toast (tostadas), or crusty sandwiches (bocadillos) with a choice of fillings (try one with omelette, tortilla). A "sandwich", incidentally, is usually a less-appetizing ham or cheese sandwich in white processed bread. Other good places for snacks are cake shops (pastelerías or confiterías) or the local bakery (panadería), where they might also have savoury pasties and turnovers.
Bars, tapas and raciones
One of Spain's glories is the phenomenon of tapas – the little portions of food that traditionally used to be served up free with a drink in a bar. (The origins are disputed but the word is from tapar, "to cover", suggesting a cover for drinks' glasses, perhaps to keep the flies off in the baking sun.) Tapas can be anything – a handful of olives, a slice or two of cured ham, a little dish of meatballs or chorizo, spicy fried potatoes or battered squid. They will often be laid out on the counter, so you can see what's available, or there might be a blackboard menu. Most bars have a speciality; indeed, Spaniards will commonly move from bar to bar, having just the one dish that they consider each bar does well. Conversely, if you're in a bar with just some pre-fried potatoes and day-old Russian salad on display, and a prominent microwave, go somewhere else to eat.
Aside from a few olives or crisps sometimes handed out with a drink, you pay for tapas these days (the cities of Granada and León are honourable exceptions), usually around €1.50–4 a portion. Raciones (around €6–12) are simply bigger plates of tapas, perfect for sharing or enough for a meal – you're sometimes asked if you want a tapa or a ración of whatever it is you've chosen.
There are big regional variations in tapas. They are often called pinchos (or pintxos) in northern Spain, especially in the Basque provinces, where typically tapas come served on a slice of baguette, held together with a cocktail stick. When you've finished eating, the sticks are counted up to arrive at your bill. This kind of tapas can be as simple as a cheese cube on bread or a far more elaborately sculpted concoction; they are also known as montaditos (basically, canapés). Famously good places across Spain for tapas-tasting include Madrid, León, Logroño, San Sebastián, Granada, Seville and Cádiz.
Most cafés and bars have some kind of tapas available, while you'll also find a decent display in tascas, bodegas and tabernas (kinds of taverns) and cervecerías (beer-houses). It's always cheapest to stand at the bar to eat; you'll pay more to sit at tables and more again to sit outside on a terrace.
The simplest kind of restaurant is the comedor (dining room), often a room at the back of a bar or the dining room of a hostal or pensión. Traditionally, they are family-run places aimed at lunching workers, usually offering a straightforward set meal at budget prices. The highway equivalent are known as ventas or mesones (inns), dotted along the main roads between towns and cities. These have been serving Spanish wayfarers for centuries – some of them quite literally – and the best places are immediately picked out by the line of cars and trucks outside. Proper restaurants, restaurantes, come in a myriad of guises, from rustic village restaurants to stylish Michelin-starred eateries; asadores specialize in grilled meats, marisquerías in fish and seafood.
Almost every restaurant serves a weekday, fixed-price lunchtime meal, the menú del día, generally three courses including wine for €8–15, occasionally even cheaper, depending on where you are in Spain. This is obviously a terrific deal; the menú del día is only sporadically available at night, and sometimes prices are slightly higher (and the menu slightly fancier) at weekends. The very cheapest places are unlikely to have a written menu, and the waiter will tell you what the day's dishes are. In smarter restaurants in bigger cities and resorts, there will still be a menú del día, though it might be a shadow of the usual à la carte menu, and drinks may be excluded. Even so, it's a way of eating at a restaurant that might normally cost you three or four times as much. Top city restaurants often also feature an upmarket menú called a menú de degustación (tasting menu), which again can be excellent value, allowing you to try out some of the country's finest cooking for anything from €50 to €100 a head.
Otherwise, in bars and so-called cafeterías, meals often come in the form of a plato combinado – literally a combined dish – which will be a one-plate meal of something like steak, egg and chips, or calamares and salad, often with bread and a drink included. This will generally cost in the region of €5–9.
If you want a menu in a restaurant, ask for la carta; menú refers only to the fixed-price meal. In all but the most rock-bottom establishments it is customary to leave a small tip, though five percent of the bill is considered sufficient and service is normally included in a menú del día. IVA, the eight-percent tax, is also charged, but it should say on the menu if this is included in the price or not.
Spaniards generally eat very late, with lunch served from around 1pm (you'll be the first person there at this time) until 4pm, and dinner from 8.30pm or 9pm to midnight. Obviously, rural areas are slightly earlier to dine, but making a dinner reservation for 10.30pm or even later is considered perfectly normal in many cities in Spain. Most restaurants close one day a week, usually Sunday or Monday.
Vegetarians generally have a fairly hard time of it in Spain, though there's an increasing number of veggie restaurants in the bigger cities (including some really good ones in Madrid and Barcelona). In more rural areas, there's usually something to eat, but you may get weary of fried eggs and omelettes. However, many tapas favourites, especially in the south, are veggie (like fried aubergine, or spinach-and-chickpeas in Seville), while superb fresh fruit and veg, and excellent cheese, is always available in the markets and shops.
In restaurants, you're faced with the extra problem that pieces of meat – especially ham, which the Spanish don't regard as real meat – and tuna are often added to vegetable dishes and salads. You'll also find chunks of chorizo and sausage turning up in otherwise veg-friendly soups or bean stews. The phrases to get to know are Soy vegetariano/a. Como sólo verduras. Hay algo sin carne? ("I'm a vegetarian. I only eat vegetables. Is there anything without meat?"); you may have to add y sin marisco ("and without seafood") and y sin jamón ("and without ham") to be really safe.
Some salads and vegetable dishes are strictly vegan, but they're few and far between. Fruit and nuts are widely available, nuts being sold by street vendors everywhere.
Coffee, tea and soft drinks
Café (coffee) is invariably an espresso (café solo); for a large cup of weaker, black coffee, ask for an americano. A café cortado is a café solo with a drop of milk; a café con leche is made with lots of hot milk. Coffee is also frequently mixed with brandy, cognac or whisky, all such concoctions being called carajillo. Iced coffee is café con hielo. Chocolate (hot chocolate) is a popular breakfast drink, or for after a long night on the town, but it's usually incredibly thick and sweet. For a thinner, cocoa-style drink, ask for a brand name, like Cola Cao.
Spaniards usually drink té (tea) black, so if you want milk it's safest to ask for it afterwards, since ordering té con leche might well get you a glass of warm milk with a tea bag floating on top. Herbal teas (infusions) are widely available, like manzanilla (camomile), poleo (mint tea) and hierba luisa (lemon verbena).
Local soft drinks include granizado (crushed-ice) or horchata (a milky drink made from tiger nuts or almonds), available from summer street stalls, and from milk bars (horchaterías, also known as granjas in Catalunya) and ice-cream parlours (heladerías). Although you can drink the water almost everywhere, it tastes revolting in some cities and coastal areas – inexpensive agua mineral comes either sparkling (con gas) or still (sin gas).
One of the great pleasures of eating out in Spain is the chance to sample some of the country's excellent wines. Over fifty percent of the European Union's vineyards lie in Spain and vino is the invariable accompaniment to every meal. At lunchtime, a glass or small pitcher of the house wine – often served straight from the barrel – is usually included in the menú del día; otherwise, restaurant wine starts at around €5–10 a bottle, although the sky's the limit for the really good stuff. And there's plenty of that, since in recent years Spanish wine has enjoyed an amazing renaissance, led largely by the international success of famous wine-producing regions like La Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Other regions – not perhaps so well-known abroad – are also well worth investigating, like Galicia or the Priorat in Catalunya, and every wine-producing area is set up for bodega (winery) visits, tastings and tours. In Andalucía, meanwhile, the classic wine is sherry – vino de jerez – while champagne in Spain means the Catalan sparkling wine, cava.
The festival and tourist drink is, famously, sangría, a wine-and-fruit punch that's often deceptively strong; a variation in Catalunya is sangría de cava. Tinto de verano is a similar red-wine-and-soda or -lemonade combination; variations on this include tinto de verano con naranja (red wine with orangeade) or con limón (lemonade).
Beer (cerveza) is nearly always lager, though some Spanish breweries also now make stout-style brews, wheat beers and other types. It comes in 300ml bottles (botellines) or, for about the same price, on tap – a caña of draught beer is a small glass, a caña doble larger, and asking for un tubo (a tubular glass) gets you about half a pint. Mahou, Cruz Campo, San Miguel, Damm, Estrella de Galicia and Alhambra are all decent beers. A shandy is a clara, either with fizzy lemon (con limón) or lemonade (con casera or con blanca).
Spirits and shots
In mid-afternoon – or, let's face it, even at breakfast – Spaniards take a copa of liqueur with their coffee, such as anís (similar to Pernod) or coñac, the local brandy, which has a distinct vanilla flavour. Most brandies are produced by the great sherry houses in Jerez (like Lepanto, Carlos I and Cardinal Mendoza), but two good ones that aren't are the Armagnac-like Mascaró and Torres, both from Catalunya. Instead of brandy, at the end of a meal many places serve chupitos – little shot glasses of flavoured schnapps or local fire-water, such as Patxarán in Navarra and the Basque Country, Ratafía in Catalunya or Orujo in Galicia. One much-loved Galego custom is the queimada, when a large bowl of aguardiente (a herb-flavoured fiery liqueur) with fruit, sugar and coffee-grains is set alight and then drunk hot.
You should order spirits by brand name, since there are generally less expensive Spanish equivalents for standard imports, or simply specify nacional. Larios gin from Málaga, for instance, is about half the price of Gordon's. Measures are staggeringly generous – bar staff generally pour from the bottle until you suggest they stop. Long drinks include the universal Gin-Tónic and the Cuba Libre (rum and Coke), and there are often Spanish Caribbean rums (ron) such as Cacique from Venezuela or Havana Club from Cuba.
Find out more
Everything you need to know before you set off.
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If you are looking to start a company and are trying to determine if a business bank account is required than ask you need to read this article. I will cover if you need a business checking account and if you do need one what the benefits of having a small company checking account will be.
Do you need a business bank account?
- You don't have any employees
- Your small operation has no significant expenses
- Most of your clients pay you on a per service basis (for example dog walker, hair cutter) as opposed to a per unit of production
- Your total income is used annually for personal use
- You have the ability to easily identify money from your company
If all the business questions above apply to your situation you don't need to have a business bank account in most states, however it is best to check with a local accountant to confirm.
If you do require a business account at a bank then you will realize the Benefits of a Business Bank Account…
- Avoid confusion between personal and business transactions
- Increase your credibility when dealing with other organizations
- Increase the number of options for you to get paid
- May help in receiving small business loans
- Required to incorporate your business(which has additional pros/cons)
Compare Small Business Bank Accounts
Comparing small business accounts is the next logical step in choosing a business account. There are thousands of options for you to choose from including free business checking account options, complete a-z solutions involving funding and extensive personal help.
My recommendation is to choose a free checking account to get you started and then proceed from there as your business grows. Keeping the costs down at the start can be a real benefit to many small business owners.


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Program at a Glance
Program Director: Bob Green, MA
Format: 100% online instructor-led courses; no set class meeting time - 24/7 access to instruction and assignments
Credit Hours Required for Bachelor's Degree: 120 credits (Note: Most students qualify for transfer credit and have an opportunity to transfer in as many as 90 credits; a minimum of 30 credits must be completed at Champlain College.)
Credit Hours Required for Associate Degree: 60 credits (Note: Most students qualify for transfer credit and have an opportunity to transfer in as many as 45 credits; a minimum of 15 credits must be completed at Champlain College.)
Transfer Credit: Generous transfer credit policy allows up to 90 credits toward your bachelor's degree or 45 credits toward your associate degree. Credits may be awarded for prior college coursework, work-life experience and professional training. Learn more.
Cost per Credit Hour: $641.00 per credit hour. Learn more about tuition & financing here.
Start Dates: 6 start dates per year (see academic calendar for details)
Program Structure: Two online, 7-week terms per semester; 3 semesters per year. (Note: Select courses are 15 weeks long. Due to the complex nature of the content of such courses, the content cannot be condensed into 7-week sessions.)
Time to Completion: Time to completion varies based on number of credits transferred in, test-out credits, and number of courses enrolled each semester.
Admissions: At Champlain College Online, we look at your whole story: grades, resume, work/life experiences, and responses to your essay questions. Learn more about our admissions process; visit our admissions page.
Accreditation: New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
Next Session Start Date: March 16, 2020
Application Deadline: Feb. 14, 2020


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Product Details
OESpectrum™ Front Driver Side Strut (72127) by Monroe®. Quantity: 1 per Pack. Strut Charging Type: Gas Charged Unit - Strut Rod Will Extend Automatically. These products are engineered for foreign nameplate vehicles to enhance the performance of their suspension systems. Monroe OESpectrum shocks utilize OE valving technologies like the Twin Technology Active Control System and Full Displaced valving.
- It's recommended to replace shock or strut in pairs (passenger and driver side at the same time).
|Compressed Length: 15.75"
|Extended Length: 22.875"
|Stroke Length: 7.125"
|Body Length: 15.375"
|Dust Shield: No
|Extended Bumper Stop: No
|Compressed Bumper Stop: No
|Extended Hydraulic Lockout: No
- Provide unprecedented handling precision and control
- Nitrogen gas charged
- Twin technology active control system internal damping control technology
- All weather fluid reduces piston rod friction
- Full displaced valving for consistency and ride comfort
- Fluon banded piston for consistent sealing and durability
- Larger bore than most shocks for more efficient control
- Nitrocarburized piston rod for durability
Monroe OESpectrum® shocks feature a number of the latest technologies developed through many years of research and testing. These shocks are the perfect option if you're looking for a perfect combination of comfort, control, and improved ride. The nitrogen charged assemblies utilize a unique damping control technology called the Twin Technology Active Control System that includes an Impact Control Valve which delivers outstanding control under virtually all driving conditions, and Low Speed Tunability Piston design used for noise, harshness, and vibration isolation. OE Spectrum™ shocks are also equipped with Full Displaced Valving which provides more consistency by automatically adjusting to road extremes. These shocks also include numerous durability enhancing features to ensure long service life, like a Fluon Banded Piston for consistent sealing between the piston and pressure tube, nitrocarburized piston rod, and self-lubricating piston seal designed to retain gas without excessive wear or friction.
Monroe® is a leading manufacturer of high-quality suspension parts, systems, and brake pads. The company has a network of 14 engineering centers on five continents providing improved technology and outstanding performance solutions for domestic passenger cars, SUVs, trucks and severe duty vehicles. Monroe offers a wide range of revolutionary products like premium brake pads, shocks and struts that provide superior steering, stopping and stability.


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Did our grassroots effort work out? Will it be the Dark Lord of the Sith—or maybe a student of Qui-Gon Jinn—beat the former Journeyman Protector of Concord Dawn? We will know March 15.
[Poll no longer available.]
See RebelScum.com's report for pictures of five possibilities.
ToyFare also has a small web site through their publisher, Wizard.


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Thank God It's Friday with Richard Glover... joining him this week - Wil Anderson, Lex Marinos and Tommy Dean
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TGIF - Thank God It's Friday - is a weekly radio comedy show hosted by 702's Richard Glover.
It's broadcast live every Friday from 5pm to 6pm with music and comedy performed in front of an audience at the ABC Studios in Sydney.
Check out past episodes by clicking on the links below, or visit our blog page.
JOIN OUR STUDIO AUDIENCE:TGIF happens every Friday from 5pm to 6pm at the ABC in Harris St, Ultimo (just down the road from Central Station and Railway Square). For free tickets to our weekly show just ring 8333 1234 during business hours. Or email us about when you'd like to come, and we'll ring you back.
PODCASTERS: Sign up for our free TGIF podcast. Just paste this address into your podcast software: https://www.abc.net.au/sydney/features/podcasttgifsydney.xml If you use iTunes you can also subscribe to the free TGIF podcast by searching the iTunes store using the search words 'Thank God It's Friday'.
FACEBOOK FANS: Keep an eye on our Facebook page for TGIF updates and extras.
LINKS: Find out more about your TGIF favourites: Anthony Ackroyd, Wendy Harmer, Tommy Dean, Wil Anderson, Richard Glover, Colin Buchanan. Or on Twitter: @anthonyackroyd, @tommydean_, @wendy_harmer, @rglover702, @jeankittson, @colinbuchanan


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These are chat archives for opal/opal
opal -R server my_code.rb trick that you mentioned, I am getting
Empty reply from server for
http://localhost:3000 What am I missing?
pbpaste | opal -R server, does it work that way?
-r requires)
node debug .... Thanks you so much :)
ruby -run -e httpd . -p 3000) It's gotta be something in that server cli runner, but wth? I'm not having a good day today, one mystery after another :smile: Thought maybe it's thin, but the same result with webrick. Better luck tomorrow perhaps.
vagrant ssh curl localhost:3000)
$$.setTimeout(-> { callback code }, 500)
delay in opal-browser that takes a timeout and a block
opal-browser dependency in
opal-jquery's gemspec
opal-browser is a wrapper for a native browser functionality
object.inspect return the object and it's attributes? only the object itself?
lets say I'm doing:
Request.get("/api/forms/tree/#{id}") do |result|
result.on :success do |response|
puts response.inspect
it only displays
#<Request:0x2d6> and nothing else I have to do
puts response.instance_variables to see anything and I'd still have to iterate over each one to find the value of each attribute (if they are a public attribute at all).
require 'browser/http'
class Request
class << self
%w{get post delete put patch head}.each do |http_verb|
define_method http_verb do |*args,&block|
def make(type,url,payload=nil, &block)
data_hash = {dataType: 'json'}
data_hash.merge!({payload: payload.to_json})if payload
Browser::HTTP.send type, url, *data_hash do |response|
puts response.inspect
# results = [response.status_code,response.json]
if block_given?
def handle_validation event
value = event.target.value
::Request.post("/api/forms/validate/#{Form.tree[:meta][:id]}",format_validation(event)) do |result|
result.on :success do |response|
self.tree = response.json
set_pair_validation_field_value true, value
set_validation_messages 'correct', false
result.on :failure do |response|
set_pair_validation_field_value false
set_validation_messages response.json[:data][:message], true
unexpected token at 'dataType=json&payload=%7B%22meta%22%3A%7B%22context%22%3A%22form.validation.check%22%2C%20%22target%22%3A%22form.account%22%7D%2C%20%22data%22%3A%7B%22field%22%3A%22user%20name%22%2C%20%22value%22%3A%22%22%7D%7D':
format_validation does is just make sure it's in the correct hash structure, nothing more
Hash to the
send method,
Browser::HTTP::Request encodes it as "key1=value1&key2=value2" (while you need json). The solution is: encode your data with
to_json manually before passing it to
hash[:payload] is a JSON string
Browser::HTTP.post returns a promise and not the request object?
Browser::HTTP.post only takes a url and the payload but not the payload type, I don't see how to set the
content_type when I don't get access to the request object directly nor can you pass it into the request object.
when I do:
Request.get("/api/forms/tree/#{id}") do |result|
puts result
I get a promise not a request object is what I meant
HTTP.post(url, hash) { content_type 'application/json' }.then { |result }
NoMethodError: undefined method 'content_type=' for #<Request:0x2d6>
HTTP.post(..) { |r| r.content_type 'application/json' } or `HTTP.post(..) { content_type 'application/json' }
$$s is currently used for the inheret self of a block
$$s remains, but instead of the common check being
self = $$s || this, it becomes
self = $$m.self || $$s || this
$m or
$meta or
$metadata in the prelude
@/all 0.9.0.beta2 is out! here's the new stuff from beta1: https://gist.github.com/elia/72872e47b23423228f09
(would post the rubygems tweet but apparently I have some connection issues 😕 )


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Dillon, COHome Menu
Event Calendar
"Explore Lake Dillon" Historical Boat Tour
- Date: 07/30/2019 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
- Location: Dillon Marina
150 Marina Drive, PO Box 1825
Dillon, Colorado 80435
"Explore Lake Dillon" Historical Boat Tour
"The original town of Dillon was built as a stage stop and trading post on the northeast side of the Snake River. The town was named for Tom Dillon, a prospector, and was incorporated in 1883. By 1892 the town had been relocated twice, both times in order to be closer to railroad lines that were extended into the area. During the Great Depression, Denver Water began acquiring land around Dillon. In 1956, residents and business owners in Dillon were notified that they would need to sell their property and move out."
Every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, from 9:00am-10:30am (June through August)
*Please arrive 15 minutes early to check-in and complete our waiver OR
Complete waiver online here
$40.00 per person (7 & older) -Reservations required.
To Book:
Book online here or contact the marina directly @ 970-468-5100 x-1


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Crime pays: Fun, interactive 'Accomplice'
Interactive play leads playgoers on a Little Italy scavenger hunt
What do an albino midget, a stack of plane tickets, an ex-stripper named Bunny and a briefcase filled with snakes have in common? The answer is you, if you're one of the lucky few to snag tickets to "Accomplice: San Diego."
The interactive theater program is being produced for just a few weeks in Little Italy as part of the La Jolla Playhouse's wildly successful Without Walls series. Every ticketholder is an accomplice whose job is to help a crooked Internet billionaire named Hammersmith avoid an
Written and directed by Tom Salamon, the quest sends a dozen theatergoers at a time on a two-hour sleuthing tour of Little Italy's streets, hotels, restaurants, bars and galleries. Along the way, they'll encounter strange characters including a drunk, a blind man and a crazy guy with an orange who share clues, maps, secret codes, locked briefcases, envelopes and keys that the accomplices must use to figure out the next step in their self-guided journey.
I've reviewed many interactive theater shows and most suffer from the same flaws — weak scripts, long dead spots, bad acting and strained repartee with the guests. Not so with "Accomplice," a tightly scripted, funny, well-cast, lively and very entertaining adventure. Salamon has been staging "Accomplice" shows in New York, London and L.A. for seven years, so it's a well-honed program.
Unraveling the clues takes a fair amount of detective work, too, so having a dozen people working together on the case is a big plus. It doesn't hurt that the tour includes a couple stops for beer, wine and snacks to break the ice and get strangers in the mood to collaborate. On the inaugural tour Friday afternoon, a family of four and a large group of college students excitedly worked their way around the historic district, playfully interacting with the actors who are secretly stationed at different spots along the way (if the group gets lost, they can call a phone number for more clues). To say too much more would spoil the surprise, but here are a few pointers to enhance the experience.
Arrive in Little Italy 15 minutes early to find parking so you can get to the "secret rendezvous spot" on time. The "Right Hand Man" who meets you there is the nervous type and he won't wait for stragglers. Wear walking shoes. You'll cover a good mile or so, and some people may get so excited in their quest, they'll move a brisk clip (there are rest spots along the way).
The only downside of the Playhouse's Without Walls (WOW) shows is that they're so popular, the usually sell out well in advance. "Accomplice" is a fun way to explore Little Italy and meet people, but tickets will be go fast.
"Accomplice: San Diego"
When: Tours leave every half-hour, from 4:30-7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 1 and 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; through April 21
Where: Little Italy; ticketholders will get a call the night before with the exact meeting spot
Tickets: $35 and up
Phone: (858) 550-1010
Get U-T Arts & Culture on Thursdays
A San Diego insider's look at what talented artists are bringing to the stage, screen, galleries and more.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.


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The United States government launched the "Hope for Homeowners" program back in October, 2008, and so far only one loan has received final approval to refinance under this program.
It's not often I'm taken aback by the simplicity and power of an invention, but this one does it for me. It's cheap, anyone can make one and it literally changes lives. Welcome to
As many of you may have guessed, I'm a Metacafe junkie. I love that place. It's a great resource for those "how to" videos that make life easier, cheaper and quite often, more fun. [more]
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|System: PC, PS3*, Xbox 360, PS4*, Xbox One*
|Dev: Infinity Ward
|Pub: Activision
|Release: November 5, 2013
|Players: 1 (2+ Online)
|Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p
|Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language
There is a new mechanic in multiplayer called Field Orders, which are randomly generated bonus objectives that give you perks and other rewards for completing them. They are fun diversions but add a level of unpredictability to the game that feels off-putting. Some of these objectives, such as "knife someone in the back," are hard, and you may get nothing more than a level one perk as a payoff. Others, such as "kill two enemies while crouching," are easy, and you could luck into a huge payoff. More often than not, they are ignored or used as lures for easy kills on people mindlessly rushing toward them.
Two game modes that need to be mentioned are the new Extinction mode and Squads modes. Extinction is basically Ghosts' answer to Black Ops' Zombies mode. Aliens, who despite their outward appearance totally aren't the Zerg, are attacking Earth with biological terraforming hives. You and four friends have to carry a drill around from hive to hive, protecting it from alien attack until it destroys the hive. It's basically a moving defense mode with some RPG elements. Players get to customize their loadouts by choosing a class, pistol, and four special perks, and all of these can be leveled up by spending skill points earned for destroying hives and completing secondary objectives. Your goal is to destroy all the hives and then nuke the whole area as a big finish. Good luck!
Squads mode, on the other hand, allows you to play against other players' loadouts when they aren't online. You can challenge another player's squad on a game type and map of the creator's choosing. An AI then takes control of his characters, attempting to recreate how he plays. On the whole, it does a good job, but sometimes, you'll see melee characters or snipers just wigging out for no reason. What's cool about this mode is that your squad can earn Squad Points for you while you are away from the game, making it less of a grind. In fact, it's worth it to build squad members that can use weapons you suck at using just to make your team a more credible threat. Not a big fan of sniping? Who cares!? Let the AI do it for you. There's also a basic defense mode under the squad menu, which doesn't really have anything to do with squads at all, but is fun nonetheless.
Everything else in the game is the same old addicting Call of Duty formula that you have come to know and love, just with new guns, new maps, and new perks. On the whole, the game feels like it's more inviting to novices without being dumbed down. Maps are easier to navigate; Killstreaks are more ground based and less lethal, and novices can just grind out Squads mode for points before they hop on multiplayer. But there is still a ton of depth for vets, with a new expanded perk system that lets you mix and match perks from all categories, tons of new game modes such as the fast-paced Cranked and Blitz, and the ability to build a near invincible squad and watch it climb the leaderboards without you even playing! I could talk forever about what each new gun handle is like and how each new map plays, but then this review would get way too long. So let's just say that Call of Duty: Ghosts is a worthy title for kicking off the Call of Duty franchise on next-generation consoles… and it has dogs in it! Who's a good puppy Riley? Who's a good boy?
Angelo M. D'Argenio
Contributing Writer
Date: November 5, 2013
Game Features:


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King George
The mad creative agency
Journalists receive a royal treatmen by our press agency KING GEORGE. In need of high resolution pictures, press releases or do you have other requests? Do not hesitate to contact one of the royal members of King George or get in touch with our team at the Modular headquarters. Thank you for your interest in our company and products.
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t. +32 (3) 746 10 10