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Certainly such recent events as the landmark case Vylene vs. Naugles, which sided with franchisees on encroachment issues, and the new streamlined Uniform Franchise Offering Circular requirements have had obvious effects on the state of franchising. But there's another force subtly reshaping the industry--from the way entrepreneurs investigate franchises to how existing franchisees operate and grow their businesses. That force? The Internet.
Some may be surprised to discover leak detection and housecleaning franchisors setting up shop on the World Wide Web alongside the likes of Microsoft and Coca-Cola, but franchisors of all kinds are flocking to the Web today. For some, establishing a Web site has created an easy, affordable way to disseminate information and market products and services. Many franchisors are using e-mail to communicate with their franchisees. Still others are reaching potential franchise buyers around the world through the Internet.
With such obvious potential, it's no wonder there are some 350 franchise Web sites and counting. "From the franchisor's perspective, you simply have to have a presence on the Web," asserts Calvin Haskell, president of Franchise Solutions Information Services, a franchise consulting firm in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Information, Please
On a basic level, franchise Web sites exist to inform consumers about industry trends and educate them about a franchisor's products and services. The Tinderbox site (http://www.tinderbox.com), for example, was established primarily to provide information about premium cigars. At Molly Maid's site (http://www.mollymaid.com), you'll find a map to guide you to the nearest Molly Maid location, and Ms. Molly answers all your cleaning questions via e-mail. Many franchise sites are also quite entertaining. To wit: You can tour various McDonald's locations around the world at the McDonald's site (http://www.mcdonalds.com), or visit the "Flavor Graveyard" at the Ben and Jerry's site (http://www.benjerry.com).
From an entrepreneurial perspective, however, the real value in browsing these Web sites is the ability to research business opportunities--and get answers fast. Most franchise sites contain descriptions of franchise programs, company fact sheets, news releases, franchisee testimonials and details on franchise opportunities. Others, such as the Franchise Solutions Information Services site (http://www.bluefin.net/~fransale), aid entrepreneurs in the purchase and sale of franchise and business opportunities.
What it comes down to is literally hundreds of Web pages that can make for more informed choices by entrepreneurs. "There's an absolute wealth of more extensive, quality information on the Internet than people have traditionally been able to find about franchises," Haskell says.
Since launching its Web site in October 1995, Molly Maid has sold 12 franchises to prospects fielded over the Internet. Likewise, last July, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based Maaco Enterprises Inc. sold its first franchise to someone who checked out the Maaco site (http://www.maaco.com) and then inquired about purchasing a franchise. Linda Kemp, Maaco's franchise development manager, says, "The franchisee was able to read through the [information on the] site and determine right away that he could qualify."
Support Network
In many respects, the Internet has also helped franchisors build stronger relationships with their franchisees and provide a higher level of support. Molly Maid franchisees have the option to e-mail Molly Maid their operating information; the franchisor will then analyze it and e-mail it back with recommendations on how to improve daily operations.
"We've had a phenomenal response from this program," says David McKinnon, president and CEO of Molly Maid in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "It saves on paperwork and time. Many franchisees say they simply can't live without it."
Similarly, industry insiders see e-mail as an extremely effective way to heighten the frequency and quality of communication between franchisees and franchisors. "It's always going to be a benefit when you can have open lines of communication," says Haskell. "Because the Internet opens channels and allows franchisors to speak with franchisees and vice versa more often, the Internet is turning out to be a benefit to everyone."
McKinnon, who says he receives an average of 10 e-mail messages daily from franchise owners, sees the Internet as a speedy way to communicate with franchisees.
No Boundaries
Perhaps the greatest advantage of the Internet is it connects people from virtually all corners of the world. Experts agree the most significant impact of the Internet on franchising to date could be the tremendous power it's given franchisors to expand globally. By establishing Web sites, franchise companies can easily market and sell their products and services abroad and tap into an international pool of potential franchisees.
When The Tinderbox launched its Web site last August, it received dozens of inquiries from interested entrepreneurs in Western Europe and surrounding countries.
"On the Internet, we've become global overnight," says Fred Haas, director of franchise development at The Tinderbox in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Likewise, franchisees can reach national and even international customers by establishing their own Web sites. Industry watchers, however, see this as a potential for conflict.
"In addition to the territory in which they operate their stores, franchisees can now become global," explains Haskell. "While that means more revenues, more royalties and more products distributed, a lot of franchisors limit your territory. Right now, there's no language in the franchise agreement that says you can't market globally through the Internet. [The technology is] too new. So if a lot of orders come out of [another franchisee's] backyard, well, that could present a lot of problems."
Even so, many franchisors still allow franchisees to establish their own Web sites. For a small fee, for example, Molly Maid will create home pages for its franchisees. And more than 60 Tinderbox franchisees have Web sites (although all content must first be cleared through the franchisor). Neither franchisor says they have experienced any territory disputes between franchisees.
"So far, there really haven't been any problems," says Haas. "Each franchisee understands that territory boundaries are lifted [through the Internet], and they're marketing abroad to various foreign countries."
Down The Line
Just how much will the Internet change franchising? Only the future will tell, but some experts predict the number and quality of franchisor Web sites will surely increase. On the other hand, there are some franchisors who are dissatisfied with their Web sites. And some franchise companies have even resorted to posting the warning "serious inquiries only" to decrease the amount of "looky-loo" e-mail messages sent to their sites.
Still, many franchisors on the Web see great promise in the Internet. McKinnon, for one, wants to use the Internet to provide remote training. New franchisees could learn to use the franchisor's software by attending an online training course. In the next five years, McKinnon envisions using desktop videoconferencing over the Internet to keep in touch with international franchisees, discuss franchise contracts and conduct meetings.
In addition, other franchisors say they plan to enhance their Internet offerings by e-mailing franchisees periodically with company news and sending prospective franchisees electronic versions of company materials.
"If you polled all the franchise companies on the Internet, overall they'd probably say that the jury is still out," concedes Haskell. "We really haven't seen how much the Internet is going to change [franchising] at this point."
Stay tuned.
What's New
76 Farmers Row
Groton, MA 01450
(508) 448-2333
DESCRIPTION: Educational toy stores
TOTAL START-UP: $200K-255K (includes $30K franchise fee)
SEEKING: Nationwide
You won't find Power Rangers poised for action or Disney dalmatians on the shelves at Learning Express. Instead, you'll see educational toys such as arts-and-crafts sets, role-playing games, construction kits and puzzles.
Sharon DiMinico, 51, started the company 10 years ago when she couldn't find interesting toys for her children. She began franchising in the Northeast in 1989; in 1995 the company took the stores national.
Learning Express is already making its mark in the toy industry. DiMinico credits the company's 1996 sales of $30 million to exciting merchandise, a strong franchisee support system and the active participation of each store owner. Says DiMinico, "The business will be only as good as the owner wants it to be."
--Lourdes Aguila
Contact Sources
Franchise Solutions Information Services, (800) 898-4455, (http://www.bluefin.net/~franfol);
Maaco Enterprises Inc., (800) 296-2226, firstname.lastname@example.com;
Molly Maid, 1340 Eisenhower Pl., Ann Arbor, MI 48108, (800) MOLLY-MAID;
The Tinderbox, 3 Bala Plaza E., #102, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004, (800) 846-3372.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Hain Celestial Europe and its subsidiaries manufacture, market, distribute and sell natural and organic products under brand names which are sold as "better-for-you" products, providing consumers with the opportunity to lead A Healthy Way of Life™. Our brand names are well recognized in the various market categories they serve.
Through constant creativity, we offer a range of innovative, unique and consumer friendly products, characterized by committed traceability and professional ethics.
Hain Celestial Europe is part of the listed "Hain Celestial Group", producer of natural and organic foods and personal care products.


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Care New England Health System (the parent company of Butler, Kent, Memorial and Women & Infants hospitals, the VNA of Care New England, The Providence Center and the Care New England Wellness Center) has joined with five other pioneering organizations to support a new effort by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to better prepare health care providers to receive and respect patients' wishes about end-of-life care. The initiative is a critical companion to The Conversation Project, which launched nationwide last month.
The Conversation Project, a campaign co-founded by Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Goodman and developed in collaboration with IHI, is a public campaign with a simple and transformative goal: to have every person's end-of-life wishes expressed and respected. As a pioneer sponsor, Care New England has committed to being "conversation ready" within one year by developing and piloting processes and tools to encourage people to express their wishes and, in some instances, to break the silence between patient and provider. Pioneer sponsors will develop a change package that they will implement first in their own organizations and then will be shared throughout the industry.
"Care New England is committed to providing the best possible care for our patients throughout their lives and including the end of their lives. We have a strong commitment to our patients and their families, and we want to provide care that is consistent with a patient and family's wishes," said Kate M. Lally, MD, FACP, director of Palliative Care at Kent Hospital and Medical Director of the VNA of Care New England. "The Conversation Project is a national initiative to get all Americans talking about their wishes for care at the end of their lives. We all need to think about whether we want care focused on comfort at the end of our lives, or aggressive treatment as long as possible. Care New England wants to encourage people to have these conversations with their families. We also want to support our patients' decisions, whatever they may be. We are honored to be able to take part in such an important project to improve the lives of patients everywhere."
As people express their wishes, it's critical that health care systems have the people and processes to hear and respect what's being said. IHI calls this being "conversation ready" and will now work closely with up to 10 pioneer sponsor organizations as well as prominent end-of-life experts to package proven methods and programs with new tools and strategies to achieve this goal. At the very basic level, many health care organizations have nothing in place to prompt discussions with patients and families about health care directives or end-of-life wishes, or to record, access, and follow the instructions.
"Like many important issues in health care targeted for improvement," says Maureen Bisognano, IHI's president and CEO, "end-of-life care has often suffered from good intentions without enough good systems in place to change behaviors, attitudes, and practices. When families and loved ones have discussed their wishes and preferences ahead of time, they can engage with the medical community differently; doctors and nurses, in turn, have the opportunity to act in a supportive fashion, using their clinical knowledge to help patients experience a 'good death,' as opposed to a 'hard death' that so many people fear and have witnessed. IHI is proud to be working with The Conversation Project and the pioneering organizations that have joined us to achieve this cultural change."
Care New England is the first pioneer organization to join the "conversation ready" initiative from New England. The others are:
- Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (California).
- Qulturum in the Jönköping County Council (Sweden).
- Mercy Health (Ohio).
- North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System (New York).
- UPMC (Pennsylvania).
About The Conversation Project
The Conversation Project, co-founded by Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Goodman, is a public engagement campaign with a goal that is both simple and transformative: to have every person's end-of-life wishes expressed and respected. Too many people die in a manner they would not choose, so The Conversation Project offers people the tools, guidance, and resources they need to begin talking with their loved ones, around the kitchen table, about their wishes and preferences. Have you had the conversation?
About IHI
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (www.IHI.org) is an independent not-for-profit organization that works with health care providers and leaders throughout the world to achieve safe and effective health care. IHI focuses on motivating and building the will for change, identifying and testing new models of care in partnership with both patients and health care professionals, and ensuring the broadest possible adoption of best practices and effective innovations. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, IHI mobilizes teams, organizations, and increasingly nations, through its staff of more than 100 people and partnerships with hundreds of faculty around the world.
About Kent Hospital
Kent Hospital, a Care New England Hospital, is a 359-bed, acute care hospital. It is Rhode Island's second largest hospital, serving approximately 300,000 residents of central Rhode Island.
A teaching affiliate of The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, Kent offers programs in Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and an Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship. Kent's redesigned Emergency Department (ED) sees approximately 70,000 patients a year and ranks Kent's ED volume among the top 10-percent nationally. It was the first hospital in the state to eliminate the practice of ambulance diversion.
Quick Links
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P: (401) 737-7010, ext. 31395
E: email@example.com


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At the shoot-out at the MIT campus, which involved both of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, MIT officer Sean Collier was killed and another officer, Richard Donahue, was wounded in the firefight and remains in critical condition. NBC's Ron Allen reports.
A young college police officer beloved by his colleagues has been identified by authorities as the latest casualty of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.
Sean Collier, 27, of Somerville, Mass., was an officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was found shot in his vehicle on the campus late Thursday night as authorities pursued two brothers named as suspects in Monday's deadly marathon attack.
In a statement his family said they were "heartbroken."
"Our only solace is that Sean died bravely doing what he committed his life to — serving and protecting others," the statement read. "We are thankful for the outpouring of support and condolences offered by so many people. We are grieving his loss and ask that the media respect our privacy at this time."
MIT Police Chief John DiFava described Collier as "a dedicated officer who was extremely well liked by his colleagues and the MIT community" in a press release on Friday.
"Sean was one of these guys who really looked at police work as a calling," DiFava said. "He was born to be a police officer."
Collier sustained multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Middlesex District Attorney in Massachusetts. He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Collier crossed paths with the two suspects, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, at approximately 10:20 p.m. Thursday night, authorities said — roughly five hours after the FBI released surveillance photos of the two men they say planted twin bombs near the finish line of Monday's Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 176.
The suspects shot Collier on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Mass., following an altercation, according to authorities. They then allegedly carjacked a Mercedes SUV, holding the driver hostage for a half hour before freeing him at a gas station in Cambridge, according to sources.
On their way to the neighboring town of Watertown, they tossed explosive devices outside the SUV's window, officials said. In a long exchange of gunfire between the suspects and authorities, a transit officer, Richard Donahue, was seriously injured.
The older brother, Tamerlan, died after the gun battle early Friday morning. The younger sibling, Dzhokhar, was captured at about 8:45 p.m. Friday following a large manhunt.
In a tragic coincidence, Collier and Donahue were "actually really good friends" who graduated from the same 26-member police academy class together three years ago, according to Milton, Mass., police officer Michael Delaney, who went to the academy with them.
"It's bizarre," Delaney said. "To take two of them out of there, it's a decent percentage."
Delaney, 36, said both Collier and Donahue lived in Somerville. He remembered Collier as a "technology nerd."
"He was definitely the smartest kid in the class. He built us a website that the instructors didn't know about, but we used as a forum to communicate with each other outside of class." Delaney said. "Sometimes [the teachers] weren't so clear on the instructions. It helped ensure that no one screwed up."
Delaney said he heard on the news last night that an MIT officer had been shot, and he immediately texted Collier. When his friend didn't text back, he started to worry. Hours later, he found out from a Facebook group he and other police officers from the academy are in that Collier was shot.
"I don't even think his family knew at that point," he said. "He was a really nice kid."
Collier, who wasn't married, had only been a patrol officer at MIT since Jan. 9, 2012, according to the university. He was part of the MIT Outing club, which went on ski and hiking trips.
Noel Morales, a senior at MIT, said Collier was a regular presence at student events, eager to get to know the students he was protecting, according to MIT's press release.
"He was always really fun to hang out with," Morales said.
Mechanical engineering student Matthew Gilbertson, who knew Collier from the Outing Club, said he and Collier were in a car accident a few months ago while driving to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.
"Sean was the first out of our car to go check and see if the [other driver] was OK," said Andrew Ding, according to MIT's press release. "It would be exceedingly difficult to imagine him not stepping up and doing the right thing when he had the chance, which unfortunately he did last night."
Somerville Alderman Bob Trane said he had been bombarded with phone calls from people wanted to express their condolences about Collier.
Miranda Leitsinger / NBC News
From left: Gary Grandonico, Max Jaffe, and Tomas Isman, all 22 and students at Tufts University, lived a few doors down from Collier but didn't know him. Asked why they were had hung a flag, Jaffe said: "In solidarity. We didn't really know the police officer who got killed this morning, but we wanted to show our support."
"We are all feeling the loss," Trane said from a block away from where Collier lived. "He was wise beyond his years. I was just impressed by how he was so mature for his age."
Before working for MIT, Collier was an IT civilian employee at the Somerville police department.
MIT's president said his death reverberated throughout the entire university community.
"The loss of Officer Collier is deeply painful to the entire MIT community," L. Rafael Reif said, adding that it was "senseless and tragic."
The school's executive vice president and treasure, Israel Ruiz, said, "The MIT Police serve all of us at the Institute with great dignity, honor and dedication. Everyone here — those who knew Officer Collier, and those who did not — are devastated by the events that transpired on our campus last night. We will never forget the seriousness with which he took his role protecting MIT and those of us who consider it home."
Authorities cordoned off Collier's home with yellow tape on Friday morning.
Collier's family asked for donations to be made in his name to The Jimmy Fund, which supports the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Related content:
- Boston on lockdown during marathon manhunt
- Profile of suspects in Boston Marathon bombing
- Photos from Bostonians locked down amid terror hunt
- Timeline of terror hunt: From photo release to rolling shootout
- Slideshow: Bombings at Boston Marathon
- Tweeting police chatter creates confusion over Boston suspect
Explosions and gunfire heard during pursuit for shooter who allegedly killed an MIT campus police officer.
This story was originally published on Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:25 PM EDT


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In retail, customer service presents the same challenges whether the business is online, instore or both: to deliver a seamless experience at every touch point, maximise sales across every channel and device, and live up to their promises regarding product availability and delivery. To create a strong retail brand that consumers will return to they must turn shopping into retail therapy – effortless, relaxing and ultimately enjoyable. With an omni-channel approach to service and sales Webhelp is powering retailers' ability to win hearts, minds and revenue share. And we're doing so with lean operations that maximise margins.
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In service operations we focus on creating loyal advocates for your brand by reducing customer effort, resolving issues on first contact and going the extra mile to engineer a truly enjoyable retail experience. There's more to it than being friendly and polite. We can get it right first time for your customers because we integrate to your supply chain – so we can give reliable information about orders and deliveries. From there we build rich knowledge bases that allow our advisors to give the right answer first time. We judge our performance by NPS and Customer Effort – measures of your customers' brand engagement (and relaxed frame of mind).
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We look back at the B2B marketplace morning discussion to explain the main changes and challenges set to be feature in 2019. "Our starting point was the observation that whereas in 2017 we were at the very beginning of the "B2B marketplace spring", we are now seeing it in full bloom!" announced Sébastien Murbach, a Partner at Roland Berger, at the opening of the morning discussion on...Read
Following the presentation of The Spring of B2B Marketplaces at the Marketplace Summit by Mirakl, we are pleased to make this fascinating study available to you! This study covers the state of B2B marketplaces today, and is proudly co-created by Roland Berger, Mirakl and Webhelp Payment...Read
FALKIRK, July 13, 2016 - Global customer experience and business process outsourcer, Webhelp, has been selected by international consumer goods giant Unilever, to deliver customer contact services across Europe. The contract will see Webhelp handling the day to day management of the customer...Read
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) will soon exit one of its venture capital unit's investments, either through an initial public offering or the acquisition of that company by another, the U.S. automaker's chief technology officer said.
GM started its venture capital unit more than two years ago with a $200 million budget to invest in start-up companies with promising auto-related technologies.
While GM Ventures no longer provides details on how many companies it has invested in or how much it has spent, Chief Technology Officer Jon Lauckner said the automaker could exit its stake in one of its investments when it is acquired or files for an IPO.
"Hopefully we'll get an exit in the not-too-distant future," he told reporters on Wednesday. "And hopefully it will basically pay for all the other investments that we've made."
One of GM Ventures' areas for investment focus is in technologies involving the greening and electrification of vehicles. Other areas include in-car information-entertainment technologies, sensors or processors, and "smart" or advanced materials that can improve vehicle performance or cut costs.
In January 2011, GM invested in battery maker Envia Systems, a California-based start-up that is working to develop more powerful and cheaper batteries for electric vehicles.
GM has made the development of electric vehicles like the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt a key part of its strategy. It plans to begin selling an all-electric version of its Chevy Spark minicar next summer and the Cadillac ELR luxury coupe plug-in toward the end of 2013.
GM invested $7 million in Newark, California-based Envia, which has developed cathode technology for lithium-ion batteries that it says will improve power storage for electric cars, addressing the problems of limited driving range and high costs.
"There's no doubt, they have some very interesting technology," Lauckner said. "Having said that, we do not have a commercial agreement with the company. Although, we continue to talk about how they fit into our future electric vehicle plans."
Lauckner declined to comment further, saying he was not involved in the discussions with Envia.
Of the companies in which GM Ventures has invested, the one that could see its product in GM vehicles first is Powermat, he said.
GM said in January 2011 that it had invested $5 million in Powermat with plans to incorporate the company's wireless charging technology for electronic devices like cell phones into future vehicles.
Lauckner also was asked about the impact of last month's bankruptcy filing by A123 Systems AONEQ.PK, which will make the batteries for the Spark EV.
He declined to comment other than to say he was "highly confident that we're going to do just fine."
Reporting By Ben Klayman in San Francisco; Editing By Ryan Woo


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Jonathan Arnold Deutsche Bank 212-250-3182 [email protected]
Exelon (EXC) still expects $3-$6/megawatt hour of upside to power forwards by 2015-2016 from coal retirements, but are less certain on timing. While time will tell if the thesis plays out, the business plan and dividend are now positioned to weather the status quo.
We think investors should find comfort in the sustainability of the dividend under EXC's stress cash scenarios, while those looking for an even more conservative approach likely aren't invested in the power-levered EXC story to begin with. Looking forward, EXC intends to utilize its increased financial flexibility to refocus on regulated and/or contracted growth opportunities, or at a minimum pursue value-additive debt reduction.
Solid 2013 guidance looks stronger at ExGen, weaker at the utilities. Initial 2013 EPS guidance of $2.35-$2.65 and the cash flow outlook were slightly stronger than our forecasts. [We are] trimming [our] 2013-2014 estimates on higher cost assumptions. We are maintaining our 2013 EPS estimate of $2.45 while lowering 2014-15 by a nickel in each year to $2.20 and $2.35 on higher cost assumptions at ExGen. Our estimates embed modestly above-market power prices, but also haircut EXC's retail/optimization margin outlook.
[We] reiterate [our] Buy rating and $34/share price target. Our price target remains at $34 despite lower estimates due to stronger-than-expected cash flows. Downside risks are weak electric demand, disappointing reliability pricing-model (or RPM) auction results, and prolonged low gas prices.
Neil Kalton, CFA Wells Fargo 314-875-2051 [email protected]
Pepco Holdings (POM): No change to our EPS outlook following the year-end 2012 report. POM initiated 2013 guidance of $1.05-$1.20, in line with our $1.12 estimate. [We] reiterate [our] Outperform rating and [are] increasing the 12-18 month valuation range to $22-23 from $21.50-22.50 due to higher group multiple. Our core thesis remains intact.
Our core thesis revolves around POM's comparatively high EPS growth driven by a combination of an assumed improvement in regulatory treatment and planned rate-base growth. We project EPS will grow by 9-10% annually during the period 2013-2016 off the 2012 base of $1.17 (excluding a $0.04 early lease termination gain) …
[We] think EPS could materially improve in 2014 depending upon rate-case outcomes and that POM will grow into a more-reasonable payout ratio over time. We consider the current dividend to be secure and note that POM affirmed it on its conference call.
POM initiated 2013 guidance of $1.05-$1.20. We estimate that the range implies anywhere from $5 million to $40 million of net income benefit from 2013 regulatory outcomes. It also excludes cross-border lease EPS of $0.12.
Our 2013-2015 EPS estimates of $1.12, $1.35, and $1.50 reflect the aforementioned loss-lease EPS partially offset in 2014 and 2015 by lower new-equity needs. All things considered, it appears that POM has the ability to execute a reasonably graceful exit from the cross-border lease issue (depending upon the outcome of the planned liquidation).


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Get Your Home Holiday Ready
By Family Features
(Family Features) When you have a house full of visiting family members and friends this holiday season, you'll rest easier knowing your kitchen and laundry rooms are up to the task.
From deep cleaning to ensuring appliances are in top working order, you can turn to Sears to help make your home holiday ready.
"Everyone wants their kitchen and other appliances to perform their best – especially during the holidays," said Sean Skelley, president of home services at Sears. "There are some easy things you can do in a matter of a few minutes to prep your home for the holidays, but other maintenance may require a professional."
The following are helpful tips from the appliance experts at Sears to help maintain your appliances this holiday season.
- The self-cleaning cycle is great for cleaning the inside of your oven, but for optimal oven maintenance, clean the grease filter regularly and consider replacing it yearly to prevent buildup. Remove and clean the filter in the kitchen sink. If your range uses charcoal filters, you'll need to replace the filter.
- Many people use just the front two burners for everyday cooking. Check all the burners before the holidays so you can make any necessary repairs in time to cook a big meal.
- Empty the ice reservoir and remove and clean the ice maker several days before your guests arrive so the fridge has enough time to produce fresh ice for your guests.
- Clean the refrigerator inside and out, especially the condenser coils, which get covered with dirt and pet hair and make your refrigerator run inefficiently. A specially designed refrigerator brush, which you can purchase through Sears Parts Direct, is an easy solution for cleaning this hard-to-reach spot.
- If it's time for an upgrade, consider high-performance models, such as the Kenmore PRO French door bottom mount refrigerator. This French door refrigerator offers GeniusCool Technology with Dual Evaporators to cool the refrigerator and freezer separately, helping food stay fresh. Or if a side-by-side is more your style, the Kenmore Elite side by side refrigerator provides 28 cubic feet of capacity, temperature and humidity-controlled storage bins, and glass shelves in the freezer, which provide space to stock up. And, the Accela-Ice feature boosts ice production for 24 hours so there's plenty of ice ready for the party.
- Clean the dryer lint trap after every cycle; when lint traps are clogged, it takes the dryer longer to dry clothes and can cause the appliance to overheat and shut down, or even cause fires.
- Drop a cleaning tablet into your washer every month to break up residue in your machine and wash it away, preventing odor, mold and mildew build up.
- Make sure you're ready for an influx of laundry with the large capacity Kenmore Elite 5.2 cubic foot front-load washer, which has 14 separate wash cycles and plenty of space for towels, blankets, comforters and more. For a budget-friendly option, the Kenmore 4.3 cubic foot top-load washer, available for less than $500, delivers a high-efficiency clean with the exclusive Triple Action Impeller that cleans with three unique wash actions, including nine spray jets that attack dirt from every angle.
If you need professional help maintaining or repairing an appliance during the holidays, SearsHomeServices.com offers convenient online scheduling. For answers to all your appliance needs, visit your local Sears or Sears.com.


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WASHINGTON — The latest fossil unearthed from a human ancestral hot spot in Africa allows scientists to link together the most complete chain of human evolution so far.
The 4.2 million-year-old fossil discovered in northeastern Ethiopia helps scientists fill in the gaps of how human ancestors made the giant leap from one species to another. That's because the newest fossil, the species Australopithecus anamensis, was found in the region of the Middle Awash — where seven other human-like species spanning nearly 6 million years and three major phases of human development were previously discovered.
"We just found the chain of evolution, the continuity through time," study co-author and Ethiopian anthropologist Berhane Asfaw said in a phone interview from Addis Ababa. "One form evolved to another. This is evidence of evolution in one place through time."
The findings were reported Thursday in the scientific journal Nature.
The species anamensis is not new, but its location is what helps explain the shift from one early phase of human-like development to the next, scientists say. All eight species were within an easy day's walk of each other.
Until now, what scientists had were snapshots of human evolution scattered around the world. Finding everything all in one general area makes those snapshots more of a mini home movie of evolution.
"It's like 12 frames of a home movie, but a home movie covering 6 million years," said study lead author Tim White, co-director of Human Evolution Research Center at University of California at Berkeley.
"The key here is the sequences," White said. "It's about a mile thickness of rocks in the Middle Awash and in it we can see all three phases of human evolution."
Modern man belongs to the genus Homo, which is a subgroup in the family of hominids. What evolved into Homo was likely the genus Australopithecus (once called "man-ape"), which includes the famed 3.2 million-year-old "Lucy" fossil found three decades ago. A key candidate for the genus that evolved into Australopithecus is called Ardipithecus. And Thursday's finding is important in bridging — but not completely — the gap between Australopithecus and Ardipithecus.
"This appears to be the link between Australopithecus and Ardipithecus as two different species," White said. The major noticeable difference between the phases of man can be seen in Australopithecus' bigger chewing teeth to eat harder food, he said.
While it's looking more likely, it is not a sure thing that Ardipithecus evolved into Australopithecus, he said. The finding does not completely rule out Ardipithecus dying off as a genus and Australopithecus developing independently.
The connections between Ardipithecus and Australopithecus have been theorized since an anamensis fossil was first found in Kenya 11 years ago. This draws the lines better, said Alan Walker of Penn State University, who found the first anamensis and is not part of White's team.
Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian's Human Origins Program, agreed: "For those people who are tied up in doing the whole human family tree, being able to connect the branches is a very important thing to do."
© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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The National Religious Retirement Office coordinates the annual national appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious and distributes financial assistance for retirement needs to eligible religious institutes. The National Religious Retirement Office and the Retirement Fund for Religious are sponsored by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. NRRO strives to support, educate and assist religious institutes in the United States to care for their elderly and frail members now and in the future. NRRO aims to:
A Mercer Human Resources Consulting report commissioned by NRRO projected that by 2034 religious institutes will face a retirement deficit of $9.8 billion. Mercer Actuarial Study
If you are a member of a religious institute seeking information about financial assistance or other NRRO resources, go to the Financial Assistance and Resources links in the left column of this page.
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Visit www.retiredreligious.org to learn more about who we help and why they need our help now.
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We are sending heartfelt greetings and appreciation to you in memory of our daughter's favorite teacher, her sixth grade teacher in Catholic elementary school. She was a wonderful person who inspired our daughter to go on to teaching small children as her vocation and life's work. We thank God today and every day for every religious who taught us in school, not only our ABC's but also to love God.
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This collection is especially important to me because the Dominican Sisters and the Jesuit priests and brothers had a profound impact on my intellectual, social and, most importantly, spiritual development. Life has not always been easy, but it has always been pointed toward God, even when the route seemed especially circuitous. I couldn't have continued my journey without the foundation the Dominicans and Jesuits helped God lay for me. I had the pleasure of having breakfast with my fourth grade teacher earlier this year. She now lives in the Motherhouse and remains ever faithful to our wonderful, abundant, loving Lord. Seeing her was one of the highlights of my year.
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NEWMARKET — Property owners in Newmarket will see a decrease in their property taxes of about 6 percent with the recently set 2012 tax rate.
The tax rate for 2012 is $23.67 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or a decrease of $1.64 from the 2011 tax rate of $25.31 per $1,000.
The town portion of the rate decreased from last year by 96 cents, or 14 percent; though the state portion itself increased by 3 percent the combined state and local education rates decreased by a total of 83 cents, or two percent compared to the 2011 rates; and the county portion decreased by on percent from $1.04 in 2011 to $1.03.
While Town Administrator Steve Fournier was not available Thursday afternoon for comment, the reductions are explained in a news release as due to "decreased appropriations as well as the use of $486,000 of unreserved fund balance to offset any increases."
The average homeowner with a home value estimated at about $250,000 will see a decrease of $410 from $6,327 in 2011 to $5,917.50 this year.
Tax bills will be mailed next week as they are due at the time the new rate is set by the Department of Revenue Administration, though the proximity to t e holiday season is not lost on Fournier.
"We understand the difficulty on residents by having the tax bills due during the holidays and apologize for the inconvenience. However, state law sets the dates when bills are due according to when our tax rate is set," he wrote.
Newmarket tax rate drops $1.64
NEWMARKET — Property owners in Newmarket will see a decrease in their property taxes of about 6 percent with the recently set 2012 tax rate.


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A turning point in the long battle over the Navy's stretch of San Diego's downtown bayfront could come Wednesday.
But whatever state coastal commissioners decide, any major developments still might take many years to materialize.
Coastal commissioners meet Wednesday to decide whether the project should undergo a redesign and new review. Litigation involving various aspects of the project is still pending in the courts.
U.S. & World
Since private financing and redevelopment dollars are still question marks, 'shovel-ready' status seems a long way off.
At stake is the Pacific Gateway project, a planned $1.3 billion commercial project featuring several highrise hotels and office buildings, including a new regional headquarters for the Navy.
Opponents say it needs to go back to 'square one' in the approval process, and Coastal Commission staffers agree.
The Navy's so-called "Broadway Complex" first took shape on 15 waterfront acres at the foot of Broadway in the 1920's.
Much of it's an eyesore, and the Navy needs modern digs.
Uncle Sam will long-term lease the land to private developers who'll accommodate the Navy for free, and profit off the commercial aspects of the Pacific Gateway project.
But critics say approvals granted two decades ago should be revoked, because the surrounding area has changed so much since then -- along with the basis for the project itself, since 9/11.
"All their markups, the videos, all the stuff they have to sell this project is out of date," said Cory Briggs, attorney for the Navy Broadway Complex Coalition, a longtime project opponent.
"What they need to do is take that back to the designers and show them the Pentagon's regulations for security and say, 'Great; show us what it looks like with the fences and the barriers," Briggs said. "Now that you've got terrorism concerns, basically the Navy's headquarters is going to be like a military fortress on the waterfront."
The project's backers say it's been tied up in the regulatory and legal processes for far too long, and that now is the time to bring that stretch of downtown San Diego's waterfront into the 21st century.
A recent study by the Fermanian Business Institute of Point Loma Nazarine University indicates that the project would generate 7,400 jobs and an annual economic impact of $850 million.
"This is really prime real estate, so I think there's a great opportunity," said Ruben Barrales, president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
"And we know these things take time," Barrales said. "If we don't move forward now, we'll never be able to create the kind of jobs and kind of downtown we want to create right on our waterfront.
"I think it's a fantastic project. It creates new open space," Barrales said. "It really makes it pedestrian-friendly."
Let us know what you think. Comment below, send us your thoughts via Twitter @PropZero or add your comment to our Facebook page.


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- About Hunger
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Bread for the World denounces the recent killings of George Floyd and generations of Africans and their descendants in the U.S. and around the globe who have been devastated by structural racism and inequity.Read Statement
Budget & Appropriations (Offering of Letters 2017)
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Ask Now!
This week, the House will vote to approve the Senate's budget resolution, which will pave the way for tax cuts. To pay for the cuts, critical anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), low-income tax credits, and Medicaid would be cut over the next 10 years.
Find out how your representative and senators voted on their chamber's budget resolution. Call (800-826-3688) and thank them if they voted "no." If they voted "yes," tell them you are disappointed.
These fact sheets provide a snapshot of hunger and poverty in the United States and in each state plus Washington, D.C.
Conflict is a main driver of the recent increase in hunger around the world and of forced migration. Hunger also contributes to conflict.
"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith." These words from Colossians 2:6 remind us of the faith that is active in love for our neighbors.
The Bible on...
Dear Members of Congress,
As the president and Congress are preparing their plans for this year, almost 100 church leaders—from all the families of U.S. Christianity—are...
This devotional guide invites deepened relationship with and among Pan-African people and elected leaders in the mission to end hunger and poverty.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to respond to changes in need, making it well suited to respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition in the fiscal year 2020 budget.
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.


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Posts: 3890
Joined: Wednesday, 14th August 2013, 23:25
Location: USA
Re: [proclick] new fork, hellcrawl
However, "blasters" start to feel really similar as soon as you can rely on some spells from an appropriate second-tier book. Generally in or just after Lair/Orc. Granted, this is the time a lot of characters start to feel similar to each other, but I do think the similarity of spells outside of each distinct starting kit contributes to that problem.


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It looks like the sporting folks at Auto Express managed to get their hands on some early photos of the facelifted Mercedes SLK that we've been showing you spy shots of. As with other Mercedes products, the new SLK retains the sport F1-style nose and gets a revised front bumper with a new split design. Out back the taillights grow sleeker and thinner.
We don't have details on what will be going on under the hood, though educated suspicion leads towards a mixture of engines, including a slightly retuned version of the current gen's V6, which is good for about 272 hp in SLK 350 trim. We'll let you know as soon as we here more. [AutoExpress via CarScoop]


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Unleash your iPhone and take it to the limit using secret tips
and techniques from gadget hacker Erica
Sadun. Fast and fun to read, Taking
Your iPod touch 4 to the Max is fully updated to
show you how get the most out of Apple's OS 4.
You'll find all the best undocumented tricks as well as the most efficient and enjoyable introduction to the iPhone available. Starting with an introduction to iPod touch 4 basics, you'll quickly move on to discover the iPod touch's hidden potential, like how to connect to a TV, get contract-free VOIP, and hack OS 4 so it will run apps on your iPod touch.
From e-mail and surfing the Web, to using iTunes, iBooks, games, photos, ripping DVDs and getting free VOIP with Skype or Jajah—you'll find it all in this book. You'll even learn tips on where to get the best and cheapest iPod touch accessories. Get ready to take your iPod touch to the max!
What you'll learn
- Getting the low down on iPod touch basics
- How to email using iCal
- Surfing the Web with iPod touch using Safari
- Expanding the main menu using third–party software
- Using iTunes, games, iBooks, etc.
- Connecting to the TV and ripping DVDs
- Hacking OS X Leopard to run apps on the iPod touch
- Getting contract–free VOIP
- Saving on accessories and what you really need
Who this book is for
Anyone who has an iPod touch and wants to get more out of it,
learn how to connect to other devices, or tinker with it.
Table of Contents
- Bringing Home the iPod Touch
- Putting Your Data and Media on the iPod Touch
- Interacting with Your iPod Touch
- Browsing with Wi-Fi and Safari
- Touching Your Photos and Videos
- Touching Your Music
- Shopping at the iTunes Store
- Shopping at the App Store
- Reading and Buying Books with iBooks
- Setting Up and Using Mail
- Staying on Time and Getting There with Clock, Calendar, and Maps
- Using Your Desk Set: Contacts, Calculator, Notes, Weather, Stocks, and Voice Memos
- Photographing and Recording the World Around You
- Video Calling with FaceTime
- Customizing Your iPod Touch


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Now showing items 1-2 of 2
Circulating copper and zinc levels and risk of hepatobiliary cancers in Europeans
(Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2017-02-02)
Background:
Copper and zinc are essential micronutrients and cofactors of many enzymatic reactions that may be involved in liver-cancer development. We aimed to assess pre-diagnostic circulating levels of copper, zinc and their ratio (Cu/Zn) in relation to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), intrahepatic bile duct (IHBD) and gall bladder and biliary tract (GBTC) cancers.
Methods:
A nested ...
Mediterranean diet and risk of pancreatic cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort
(Journal article; Tidsskriftartikkel; Peer reviewed, 2017-02-07)
Background: The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been proposed as a means for cancer prevention, but little evidence has been accrued regarding its potential to prevent pancreatic cancer. We investigated the association between the adherence to the MD and pancreatic cancer risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.
Methods: Over half a million ...


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Would anyone know more about these interesting little open wagons at a Taiwan coal mine? I'm keen to build a few.
Moderator: GnATTERbox Moderators
southpier wrote:I would be extremely cautious in any dealings with the aforementioned loco manufacturer; that is all ...
nonsuch wrote:DB
What do you want to know about them? I discovered these coal mines when I was working in Taiwan just as they were closing some twenty years ago. I have many photographs, and dimensions, of the wagons and locomotives. They were 500mm gauge (more or less)
Neil B
nonsuch wrote:DB
My photographs are prints, being over twenty years old. I will dig them out and investigate scanning them.
In the meantime - all dimensions in inches:
Solebar 70, section 4 1/2 by 4, longer dimension horizontal
Body length 56
Body width 33
Body height 29
Planks three or four 1 thick. Some mines had all metal bodies of thin laminated sheets that rusted badly. Any individual mine would have only one pattern - all three plank or all four plank.
Wheelbase 33
Wheel diameter 9
Wheel width 3 overall
Wheel diameter over flange 11
Five spokes, slight 'S' shape
Axlebox a simple pedestal with a transverse hole to carry the axle end. No bearing. Lubricated by hand by the train crew.
Captive coupling chain at one end so cars were ' handed'.
Body interior corner steel angle 1 3/4
'Signature' curved side support 2 by 1/4 section
Overall height above rail 43 or so
Charles Small's book 'Rails to the Mines' has pictures of cars of the same pattern running on 600mm gauge. Presumably these were wider
No paint, just a stock number
I hope that this is useful
southpier wrote:as it looks to my untrained eye where the stills are from, i'm assuming everyone has seen these, but just in case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du-n0E3 ... TN&index=2
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"Leaver and Broken" a story
Something for a brother or sister in Christ to consider… I write this story to help friends and loved ones understand what a person goes through in the situation explained here. If you've never been in this type of situation, … Continue reading
Posted in faith, from the heart, marriage, single parenting Tagged breaking up, divorce, faith, healing, hurt, joy, pain, relationships Leave a comment


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When you post a problem with a match, on this forum or any other, please always share the match ID and which hero you were playing. This allows us to instantly begin investigating the problem. It can also enable fellow community members to assist, for example, by watching the replay.
You dont need to post your problems here on dev.dota2.com for us to see them, because we read many other forums as well. But wherever you post, please always include this information. In fact, sharing this information is even more important on other forums where we cannot easily identify your Steam account from your forum username.
If the problem you are reporting is happening outside the context of a match, or you dont have the match ID, sharing a link to your Steam community profile enables us to locate your account.
When you see other posts that should include this information but dont, please ask the poster to provide it.


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I first wrote about Carol Highsmith two years ago when I asked, Is Carol M. Highsmith the Most Generous Artist of Our Time? after coming across her archive at the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Online Catalog and learning that eventually she will have provided the public an estimated 100,000 images for their personal, educational, or commercial use — all for the price of a credit line.
Then last year I told you Carol Highsmith was in Alabama, working on a project for the Library of Congress, the 21st Century America Collection. Her goal is to document in digital images life in each state so that future generations will have an idea of what America was like in the first decades of this century. She was able to get going on this project because of the generosity of businessman and philanthropist George F. Landegger, who funded the Alabama collection.
Carol spent much of 2010 traveling over 20,000 miles up, down, across, and around the state of Alabama, and now the George F. Landegger Alabama Library of Congress Collection is completed and up for your viewing at the Library of Congress.
Now Carol is hard at work with the 21st Century America Foundation, Inc., a "priority initiative" of the Library of Congress, looking for funding to get to work on her next state. Which one remains to be seen, but I'll let you know as soon as I can. Meanwhile, time for the pictures.
Credit lines for each of these public domain images should read: The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
- Dauphin Island, Alabama
- Read the rest of this entry »


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HOT STUFF: We may never get to travel to the moon for vacation -- fingers crossed, though, there's some big announcement in our lifetime regarding that -- but there is a next best thing: an overnight stay in Death Valley. Specifically at the Inn at Furnace Creek. If you've been to the historic hotel, which opened in 1927, you know what we mean, at least somewhat; gazing out from its picture-pretty front window, across the one of the lowest spots on earth toward the startling and austere Panamint Mountains, you can get to feeling very lunar. In the best way, we'll add; you're not on the moon but rather in the swank Inn at Furnace Creek, which has a lovely bar and restaurant and pool (a pool on the moon might be a tad complicated). And while its moon-like beauty and its 85-year history lend much loveliness to the property, there's another factoid that makes us sweet on the place: It closes every year for the hot months.
OCTOBER OPEN: Now, usually we wouldn't want a place we like to be unavailable for a good chunk of the year, but there's something charming and a tad old-fashioned about that. And it makes one anticipate the autumn re-opening all the more. And, indeed, the Inn just reopened for another season on Thursday, Oct. 25; the inn's season will stretch, as is tradition, into the middle of spring. Question one: Is it summer hot in Death Valley in the wintertime? Nope, it can get very cold, especially at night (when it can feel slightly moon-like). Question two: Is there lots to do? Yep. Biking and golfing and sightseeing around some of the nearby borax-type sights. Welcome back, Inn at Furnace Creek. It's true that some hotels close for snow during the winter, but you're one of the few resorts around to shutter during the summer. It's a tradition that seems perfectly quaint to us, so don't ever change.


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"Exceptional. . . . Otsuka skillfully dramatizes a world suddenly foreign. . . . [Her] incantatory, unsentimental prose is the book's greatest strength." –The New Yorker
"Spare, incisive. . . . The mood of the novel tensely reflects the protagonists' emotional state: calm surfaces above, turmoil just beneath." –Boston Globe
"A timely examination of mass hysteria in troubled times. . . . Otsuka combines interesting facts and tragic emotions with a steady, pragmatic hand."–The Oregonian
"Prose so cool and precise that it's impossible not to believe what [Otsuka] tells us or to see clearly what she wants us to see. . . . A gem of a book and one of the most vivid history lessons you'll ever learn." –USA Today
"With a matter-of-fact brilliance, and a poise as prominent in the protagonist as it is in the writing, When the Emperor Was Divine is a novel about loyalty, about identity, and about being other in America during uncertain times." –Nathan Englander, author of For the Relief of Unbearable Urges
"Shockingly brilliant. . . . it will make you gasp . . . Undoubtedly one of the most effective, memorable books to deal with the internment crisis . . . The maturity of Otsuka's. . . prose is astonishing." — The Bloomsbury Review
"The novel's voice is as hushed as a whisper. . . . An exquisite debut. . . potent, spare, crystalline." –O, The Oprah Magazine
"At once delicately poetic and unstintingly unsentimental." –St. Petersburg Times
"Heartbreaking, bracingly unsentimental. . . .rais[es] the specter of wartime injustice in bone-chilling fashion. . . . The novel's honesty and matter-of-fact tone in the face of inconceivable injustice are the source of its power. . . . Dazzling." –Publishers Weekly
"Otsuka . . . demonstrates a breathtaking restraint and delicacy throughout this supple and devastating first novel ." –Booklist
"Spare yet poignant. . . . clear, elegant prose." –Library Journal
"Her voice never falters, equally adept at capturing horrific necessity and accidental beauty. Her unsung prisoners of war contend with multiple front lines, and enemies who wear the faces of neighbors and friends. It only takes a few pages to join their cause, but by the time you finish this exceptional debut, you will recognize that their struggle has always been yours." –Colson Whitehead, author of John Henry Days
"Heartbreaking. . . . A crystalline account." –The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
ALA Alex Award WINNER
Asian American Literary Award WINNER 2003
Booklist Editor's Choice for Young Adults WINNER
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Welcome to Watch List, where we identify five things on TV to watch while you stay at home and get on a plane to Minneapolis to rejoin the Minnesota Vikings. Or are you just there to fish? No one can know for sure. LET'S GO!
MELISSA AND JOEY – 8:00PM (ABC Family) It's a new cable sitcom featuring former lovable child stars Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, who I swear looks juts like Bret Michaels if Bret ever took that bandanna off his head. Melissa plays a mom. Joey plays her male nanny. Hijinks ensue. Regardless of how this sitcom turns out, I'll still always remember Joey as the little boy who shocked Nell Carter by donning blackface on "Gimme A Break". What six-year-old in the 1980's knew who Al Jolson was? That always baffled me. ANTICIPATION: NOSTALGIA-EY!
BIG LAKE – 10:00PM (Comedy Central) Two former longtime SNL cast members headline this new Comedy Central sitcom. Horatio Sanz is all skinny now, though I don't know if that will impact his ability to ruin a scene by cracking up with laughter. Chris Parnell is also on board. The premise revolves around a Wall Street banker who is forced to move back in with his parents. Really? That's the premise? Hmm, where have I seen this premise before? Oh, that's right. ON EVERY SITCOM EVER MADE. "Heat Vision And Jack" can never make it to the air, yet year after year networks take the move-back-in premise and somehow promise you it'll be new. No, no. This time, the parents live IN SPACE! ANTICIPATION: CHORTLY!
REAL SPORTS – 10:00PM (HBO) Bernard Goldberg takes a moment away from grinding axes with dirty liberals to interview the Salahis (the White House party crashers) about their phony baloney charity polo matches. I don't know which has less to do with sports: the Salahis, or polo. ANTICIPATION: LOSERS!
IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME – 11:00PM (MTV) MTV's high school series looks to ease tensions between high school cliques by having them sit down together and, like getting to know one another. This time, it's a group of bullies at Colusa High in California coming face to face with their victims. Tears will be shed. Confessions made. Lessons learned. Let's hope Dr. Drew doesn't come along to screw it all up. ANTICIPATION: THIS IS WHAT IS SOUNDS LIKE WHEN DOVES CRY!
GROWING UP TWISTED – 10:00PM (A&E) Twisted Sister's Dee Snider wants to take his kid to a Bikers for Babies Charity event. Hey, bikers need babies. Everyone knows that. ANTICIPATION: YOU ARE GONNA TAKE IT!
Tuesday Watch List: WHOA!
Welcome to Watch List, where we identify five things on TV to watch while you stay at home and get on a plane to Minneapolis to rejoin the Minnesota Vikings. Or are you just there to fish? No one can know for sure. LET'S GO!


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Winnebago County motorists pay on average $163 a month for fuel, only 4 percent of their income — less than the national average of 5 percent. Other Rock River Valley motorists pay around the same rate.
Think you've got it bad when it comes to gas prices?
Think about Wilcox County, Ala., where the average person spends almost $250 a month on fuel, according to a recent study. That's almost 17 percent of their income.
Winnebago County motorists pay on average $163 a month for fuel, only 4 percent of their income — less than the national average of 5 percent. Other Rock River Valley motorists pay around the same rate.
The people hit the hardest by high fuel prices are those in poor and rural areas of the South and West, according to the study, released by the Oil Price Information Service.
"Unfortunately, these people really have to do a lot of driving to get to a low-paying job, so it's really hitting them," said Glen Falk, retail pricing manager for OPIS. "They don't have access to telecommuting or carpools and all those kinds of things."
The least-hardest hit areas of the country include affluent suburbs of New York; Chicago; Denver; Washington, D.C.; and Southern California — where the median income is well above the national median of $3,694 a month and few people spend more than the national average of $190 a month in fuel.
Rock River Valley counties generally rank in the bottom one-tenth of the country in percentage of income that goes to fuel.
Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties have median incomes higher than the national median, but residents pay less than the national average in monthly fuel costs. This is despite having gas prices around the top 20 percent of counties in the country.
Besides having more money, people nearer to big cities have better transportation options and don't have to drive far to get to stores, restaurants and entertainment venues, Falk said.
Of course, the jump in fuel prices is still a pinch everywhere. In Winnebago County, the average amount spent on fuel jumped almost 32 percent in the last year and 152 percent since 2002.
Those kind of increases are being seen everywhere, Falk said, but that's cold comfort for those paying the bills.
And the poorer you are, regardless of where you live, the harder fuel prices are hitting you.
"Paying $40 more a month, that's not insignificant," said John Lewis, economist at Northern Illinois University. "It is having an impact on our lifestyle."
Still, the Rock River Valley's low rank on the list indicates a competitive advantage it has with other areas.
"If you're trying to attract workers, ... their household income (will go) further here," Lewis said.
Thomas V. Bona may be contacted at (815) 987-1343 or email@example.com.


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After making sure you all had enough time to wonder about what happened, here's part 2. ;)
My friend had called saying she had been in an accident. She was doing fine, but the car was totaled. Though I was glad she wasn't hurt, my selfish, little self was angry, grumpy, and getting a bad attitude that was turning into a whirlwind. I decided I had to get away from everything and go spend some time with the Lord. I went to a nearby park and sat down on a bench that was surrounded by fresh-smelling evergreen pines, and woodsy shrubs. With tears streaming down my face, I cried out to God... "Lord, I know that you knew all of this was going to happen, and I know that you have a purpose and reason for this. So please change my heart and my attitude." And I sat there in the silence...listening to the nature around me and God working on my heart. When I got up from that bench, peace was abounding in my soul, and dare I say, even splashes of joy. With the understanding that knowing Christ doesn't magically change your situations, but it sure does make them a whole lot easier to endure.
The second thing I "learned" (it was more of a realization than a lesson) was the obsession of worldly things and loves by the teens that I was around. It wasn't that it was surprising, but rather realizing how saddening the reality of such obsessions are. And seeing professing Christians do it, is that much more saddening. I had only one cousin who was on fire for the Lord and was really seeking to do His will. I cannot tell you how blessedly wonderful it was to be able to talk with him about the Lord, and just having that common bond of being in a relationship with Christ. You might think me naive in such a realization. I mean -duh- of course people, especially non-Christians, are going to have those kind of obsessions! But being at home most of the time, and being sheltered from that kind of company, my knowledge of being obsessed with the world seemed more like ideas and thoughts rather than fact. Sort of like head knowledge rather than heart knowledge, ya know? So I came to see the reality of what I believed to be true, and unfortunately, it was very saddening.
Our second week in Mississippi, we went to go visit Mom's side of the family (the first week was Dad's). We went bowling and got to experience a behind-the-scenes-look at the bowling ally. It was neat seeing where your ball disappears to and what happens to the bowling pins when they get knocked down. I also got to feed and pet a semi-tame squirrel-it's pretty awesome seeing God's nature up close! Dad and Mom also took us to the places where they went to college, got married, and went on their honeymoon. It was so cool to see it all and listen to them rehash old, fun-loving memories. They told their recollections so well, that it felt like their memories had become a part of your own. Can there be such a thing as hand-me-down memories? ;)
I had a very incredible encounter with the Lord that second week. I had been reading some books that my Meemaw kept about the rapture, and it made me aware of how short our time is and how precious souls are. It started to get me into a depressing mood, and entry from my journal will tell you why: (Note: You have to understand that I had a bunch of different emotions and feelings welling up inside of me, so some things might not make complete sense.)
I so don't deserve God's love for me! I feel so utterly helpless and useless. The Bible says to let your light shine, but how do I know it's shining??? Am I being transparent in Christ? When people look at me do the see someone who's different of just another person in this deary world? Does not telling every single person I meet about His love mean that I'm not passionate about Christ? How can God use someone like me for the ministry? I'm 18-years old and I have yet to lead one person to Christ! Why does God want to use me?? Isn't there somebody else? I don't know what to do, but to put my trust in Him! I found this verse the other day while reading the Word, and it makes me wonder why I even bother asking such questions. The verse is found in Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord they God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
God was talking to Joshua before he went to conquer the promise land, but those same words spoken so long ago, still hold true for us today. God is still with me, and He will NEVER leave or forsake me. How can I ever doubt Him? So unworthy yet being made qualified for the calling.
I love you Lord,
I was alone in our trailer, and after writing that, I just started praising God, and one of the most beautiful things happened. I could actually feel the Lord's presence. He was right there in front of me enveloping me in His spirit. Oh, I could've stayed there forever. I don't understand how people can deny His existence...
So after the second week, we headed back home and, on the way, stopped in Oklahoma to a visit a friend of Mom's. The only glitch when traveling home was that we didn't have any A/C in the bus, so we basically melted for two days. But we survived and arrived safely at home sweet home. Such bliss to be back in familiar surroundings again...ahhh...if that's how it feels to be home here on earth, what will arriving in heaven be like? :)
And there you have it folks! Summer vacation. Wow. I can't believe how quickly it flew by.
Oh, and a note of warning (in case you haven't already noticed). I'll be very sporadic in my posting for awhile. I did start college this year so it's keepin' me on my toes. But I am enjoying my classes nonetheless (most of them anyways ;)). Your prayers would be appreciated since I tend to let little things get in my way instead of looking at God's big picture. How quickly I forget I'm His. Anywho, thank you all so much my dear and faithful readers! One of these days (I hope) I'll get back to blogging more regularly! :)
Keep strong in the faith!
Pressing On,


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This alternative telling of the Lost Colony story adds some new figures, including 16th century bad-boy dramatist Christopher Marlowe and the main character, Captain John Vytal. Spanish invaders, hostile Native Americans, and internal dissent doom the colony. Marlowe returns to England and meets his fate at that tavern in Deptford. White Doe (Virginia Dare), Dark Eyes (Manteo's son) and Eleanor Dare flee to the forest, along with Vytal who has long pined for Eleanor.
Check this title's availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.


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Most patients receiving prescriptions today are choosing to purchase generic drugs; A generic drug is a copy that is the same as a brand-name drug in dosage, safety, strength, how it is taken, quality, performance and intended use.
Today, almost half of all prescriptions are filled with Generic medications are less expensive because generic manufacturers don't have the investment costs of the developer of a new drug. New drugs are developed under patent protection. The patent protects the investment—including research, development, marketing, and promotion—by giving the company the sole right to sell the drug while it is in effect. As patents near expiration, manufacturers can apply to the FDA to sell generic versions. Because those manufacturers don't have the same development costs, they can sell their product at substantial discounts. Also, once generic drugs are approved, there is greater competition, which keeps the price down.Today, almost half of all prescriptions are filled with generic drugs..
Generic firms have facilities comparable to those of brand-name firms. In fact, brand-name firms are linked to an estimated 50 percent of generic drug production. They frequently make copies of their own or other brand-name drugs but sell them without the brand name.
"Since generic drugs generally sell for less than brand name drugs, many people falsely believe that generics must be inferior to brand-name products. Generic drugs contain exactly the same active ingredients as the brand-name drugs and are just as safe and effective."


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Marco Scabia, PhD in Electronic Engineering, has been into academic research for several years at the University of Florence. As a researcher, he worked in the field of ultrasonic echographic systems, and he developed a real time hardware-software acquisition and 3D visualization system of the blood flow in the human body by means of the Doppler effect.
Marco Scabia is now founding partner and technical director of unit9 s.r.l., the Italian branch of unit9, and over these past few years he directed several Flash based award winning web productions for digital agencies such as Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, DDB, BBDO and for clients such as Adobe, Philips, Toshiba and AT&T.
His true passion is the development of 3D games, especially in Flash. Marco Scabia is developing an educational resource for 3D development in Flash using Stage3D called iFlash3D at http://iflash3d.com. This new self-sustaining resource aims to bridge the world of serious hard core coding to that of casual game production.


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How will the CW's The Carrie Diaries, a prequel to a series based almost entirely on having and talking about sex, handle the topic in a way that both honors Sex and the City and follows the rules of network television?
Winter TV Preview: Get scoop on the must-see new shows
On the series premiere, a young Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb) returned to high school after a summer of grieving the death of her mother. On the first day, she "meets" the new guy in school, Sebastian Kydd (Austin Butler), who was actually Carrie's first kiss the summer before. But now that the pair is together, how long will it be before the 16-year-old virgin starts down the path to becoming the Carrie viewers fell in love with on the HBO series? Executive producer Amy B. Harris is OK taking her time.
"We're not yet to a place where they're 'doing it' yet," Harris tells TVGuide.com. "We're taking it very slowly and then sometimes speeding it up the way your first relationships often are. What I love about Carrie and Sebastian is that we are really delving into that first relationship that inspires the potential to say, 'I love you' for the first time."
But that doesn't mean the new show will be completely sex-less. "We've been fighting the good fight with the network," Harris says. "We have Standards and Practices, so there are certain things we can't show. But you saw [on the premiere] that [Carrie's best friend] Maggie was trying to give Walt a bl-- j--. [The network] fought for that to be in the show."
Carrie Diaries Star: Don't compare it to Sex and the City, "Embrace it for what it is"
So what can and can't be shown? "Apparently you're not allowed to thrust, so you're basically lying on top of each other," Butler says, before hinting that a Carrie-Sebastian romp is still a ways off. "But I haven't filmed a sex scene yet, and we're going into Episode 9."
Just as the older Carrie's relationships were complex and complicated, younger Carrie's relationship with Sebastian won't be all high school dances, flowers and rainbows. On the third episode, Carrie discovers something alarming about Sebastian's past that leads Carrie's dad (Matt Letscher) to forbid her to see him.
"Through her own curiosity, she makes a lot of mistakes with how she approaches the subject [with Sebastian], which is very Carrie Bradshaw," Harris says. "A lot of people would've kept that information to themselves, but she could not. In a strange way, the father also becomes a part of the triangle. These two men are the most important to her, and one of them doesn't want the other around. So that'll play a big part of this season."
With bumps ahead for Carrie and Sebastian, and the fact that it's unlikely a high school relationship could last the length of the series, how will the show keep Sebastian at the forefront of the series? For Harris, it's about making him the "Mr. Big" of the show. "Similar to Big [Chris Noth], he will be around even when he's not a part of her life in a couple kind of way," she says. "But they're drawn to each other. For me, the way we told stories on Sex and the City about those smaller, but very relatable aspects of relationships is a lot of what we'll be chasing in this one."
The Carrie Diaries airs on Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.


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Region braces for a big blow
As the region braced for a storm nearing the magnitude of the Great Hurricane of 1938, area communities on Sunday declared mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas, canceled school for the next two days and opened emergency shelters to welcome the first of what are expected to be large numbers of evacuees.
Hurricane Sandy is expected to hit today, and it isn't in any hurry to leave. The worst part of the storm in southeastern Connecticut will be winds gusting up to 80 mph on the shoreline, a situation that could lead to the closure of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge for up to a day and a half starting this morning, emergency officials said.
AccuWeather meteorologist Mark Paquette said the region will feel Sandy's effects throughout today and much of Tuesday. Complicating matters will be a storm surge of up to seven feet during unusually high tides that will cause flooding on the coastline and along rivers and other low-lying areas.
"This isn't a normal hurricane; it's a hybrid system," Paquette said. "It's like a nor'easter on steroids."
Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall in New Jersey today, with winds extending as far as 500 miles north and east from the center of the storm.
A high wind warning is in place from 6 a.m. today through 6 p.m. Tuesday. Emergency officials said winds above 40 mph could lead Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to order the closure of the Interstate 95 bridge between Groton and New London, because of the risk posed to trucks, ambulances and campers that are known to be flipped over by strong winds on high bridges such as the Gold Star.
If the Gold Star closes, motorists will likely be directed to cross the Thames River over the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge between Montville and Ledyard, officials said.
Paquette predicted the region will experience 2 to 4 inches of rain during a 48-hour period starting today, and local officials are bracing for severe flooding and damage to shoreline homes. Sustained winds of 50 mph also will wreak havoc by downing power lines and causing widespread outages that may take some time to fix, Paquette said.
"The difference with Sandy versus other strong hurricanes in the past is that Sandy is very large, moving very slowly and her angle of approach is toward the northwest and west," Gary Conte, warning coordination meteorologist from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather service, said during a Norwich weather briefing Sunday. "We're on the drier side of the storm, but with the highest winds and greatest storm surge."
Emergency officials advised people in flood-prone areas to get out of their homes as soon as possible, because there are no guarantees of a rescue at the height of a storm.
New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio said Sunday that storm surges are expected to be 2 to 4 feet higher than those in the Hurricane of 1938.
"I am concerned as mayor of this city that many residents are not taking this as seriously as they should," he said.
He added that the surges are expected to be "more frequent, more sustaining than any storm we've ever experienced here in New London."
Joseph Sastre, director of emergency management for the Town of Groton, said he has heard predictions of a 6- to 7-foot storm surge above the normal high tides, which are already higher than usual because of the effects of a full moon. Each high tide will be worse than the last during three consecutive high-tide cycles as the storm hits, he said.
"We could see flooding in excess of what we saw in 1938," Sastre said.
During the 1938 hurricane, dozens of homes that once lined Ocean Beach in New London were washed out to sea, and a whole row of cottages at Hawks Nest Beach in Old Lyme were destroyed. In Westerly alone, about 100 people lost their lives during the hurricane, and about 700 were estimated to have perished along the hurricane's path from Maryland to Maine.
As much damage as Hurricane Sandy might cause in this region, Fairfield and New Haven counties were expected to fare much worse by being belted with more rain than the southeastern part of the state is likely to see, emergency officials said.
Gov. Malloy spent much of his day updating emergency personnel across the state about storm preparations. He also ordered all non-essential state personnel to stay home today and extended the state's voter-registration deadline to 8 p.m. Thursday, allowing people wanting to vote in next month's presidential election an extra two days to sign up in recognition that many town halls will be closed today and Tuesday.
Malloy also requested Sunday that President Barack Obama declare a pre-landfall state of emergency in Connecticut to speed federal aid after Hurricane Sandy passes through the state.
"As the hours go by, we are more and more certain that Hurricane Sandy will have a substantial impact on our state," Malloy said.
Amtrak canceled service throughout much of the Northeast today, and airlines across the nation grounded more than 5,000 flights. Lawrence & Memorial Hospital canceled all elective surgeries today and said its physicians' offices also would be closed.
Connecticut's court system also was taking the day off today.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday it is monitoring its system of flood risk management projects in New England that includes five hurricane barriers. The Corps can close or reduce water flow at its network of 35 dams to help reduce flood damage, a system that it says has already meant property-damage prevention of more than $6.6 billion, versus a cost of $538 million to build.
In Norwich, the city Emergency Management Director Gene Arters called for a voluntary evacuation of all mobile home parks and flood-prone residences after 2 p.m. today, when the city's emergency shelter at Kelly Middle School opens.
Last winter's completion of the $40 million renovation to the Kelly Middle School included preparing the building to serve as the city's new emergency shelter.
Plan on days with no power
"People should plan to be out of power for two to three days, just as a rule of thumb," Mike Hughes, Norwich Public Utilities communications manager, said Sunday.
Public schools in the region all planned to cancel classes both today and Tuesday, while Mitchell College, Connecticut College and Three Rivers Community College are also closed. Trash service was being suspended in many towns, for as many as three days.
Many towns were handling their own evacuees, but East Lyme opened up its middle school to residents of several different municipalities, including Waterford, Old Lyme, New London and Montville. East Lyme High School also was being prepared as an evacuation site, in case of an overflow.
Residents of shoreline communities in Old Lyme and Stonington were told to evacuate their homes Sunday afternoon, while other communities, such as Waterford, initially called for voluntary evacuations and then decided to make them mandatory.
At Sound View Beach in Old Lyme, Lennie Corto, owner of Lennies on the Beach, said the neighborhood had already flooded Sunday, even before the storm started, due to the astronomical high tide.
"We had (Tropical Storm) Irene, and Irene taught us a lot," Corto said. "So Round 2, we know what to do."
Corto flew a hurricane flag - red with a black square - from a telephone pole near the beachfront bar at the end of Hartford Avenue. He boarded up the windows of the beachfront bar, piled sandbags around the patio and made a sand barrier in an effort to divert the incoming water from the building.
Farther down the beach, John Rondinone of Wethersfield and his son, John Jr., were shoveling sand into sandbags in an effort to protect their summer home on nearby Pond Road from what town officials said would likely be "catastrophic flooding."
"We sandbagged our basement and walkway to the deck and I think we're going to board up the front windows," Rondinone said.
He said he and his son would be heeding the mandatory evacuation order and getting out of town.
"I'd stay, but this time, I'm afraid of the flooding," he said.
Day Staff Writers Karen Florin and Kimberly Drelich contributed to this story.
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