text:
This Layout Guide is an official guide as to how an in-universe article should be structured. Generally this guide is to be used for character articles, but can be adapted to almost any in-universe article by leaving out sections that are irrelevant. By adhering to this layout guide we will add more uniformity across all the pages. This will create a more professional look for the Harry Potter Wiki. In addition, if you are unsure of how to start an article use this guide to provide a starting point. If you have any questions or comments feel free to discuss the Layout Guide on the talk page. This layout guide was adapted from Wookieepedia's Layout Guide.
Title tag
Example: {{Title|''{{PAGENAME}}''}}
- Used to alter the appearance of the article's title at the top of a page.
Featured Article
- Used to give an article "featured" status.
- Only place if an article has been a Featured article.
Example: {{See also|Slytherin|Gryffindor|Ravenclaw}}
Another example: {{Youmay|the association|the book of the same name, see ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]''}}
- Generally used when it is possible that a user has found one article when they were actually looking for another of a similar or same name.
- See Category:Disambiguation and redirection templates
Maintenance templates
Example: {{Inuse}}
- A series of tags used when the article is in need of some sort of maintenance (Inuse, Redlink, etc.).
- See Category:Maintenance templates
Header templates
Example: {{Noncanon}}
- These tags are used to indicate an article's level of canonicity, or if an article is an about a subject from a cancelled or future source.
- Also used to show if an article is official policy of the Harry Potter Wiki
- See Category:Header templates.
Example (for an article about a Ravenclaw student): {{Ravenclaw_individual_infobox |image=[[File:Lovegood loona.PNG|250px]] |name=Luna Scamander (née Lovegood) |hideb= |born=c. [[1981]] |died= |blood=[[Pure-blood]] or [[half-blood]]<ref>Both of Luna's parents were magical, but it is unknown what their [[blood status]]es were.</ref> |alias=Loony Lovegood |title=[[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry|Hogwarts]] [[Quidditch]] commentator |hidep= |species=[[Human]] |gender=Female |height= |hair=Dirty blonde |eyes=Silvery grey |skin=Pale |hidef= |family=*[[Xenophilius Lovegood]] (father) *[[Luna Lovegood's mother|Mrs. Lovegood]] (mother)† *[[Rolf Scamander]] (husband) *[[Lorcan Scamander]] (son) *[[Lysander Scamander]] (son) *[[Newton Scamander|Newt Scamander]] (grandfather-in-law) *[[Porpentina Scamander]] (grandmother-in-law) |hidem= |animagus= |boggart= |wand=[[Luna Lovegood's first wand|Unknown]] |patronus=Hare |hidea= |job=Wizarding naturalist |house=[[Ravenclaw]] |loyalty=*[[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]] *[[Dumbledore's Army]] *''[[The Quibbler]]'' *[[Lovegood family]] *[[Scamander family]] *[[Ravenclaw|Ravenclaw House]] }}
- The image may not be larger than 250px
- For the first occurrence of each information make it a link, e.g. link the year for the birthday/deathday and link all family members, jobs, etc.
- Wherever there is more than one "answer," separate them by a line break (<br />)
- Do not put a line break after the last entry in that field
- Leave unknown fields blank
- Use the "newest" infobox that fits. For example Luna Lovegood is not currently in Hogwarts but the newest infobox that fits her is the Template:Ravenclaw individual infobox, that one is to be used.
- See Category:Infobox templates
Opening quote
Example: {{Quote|Haven't I taught you ''anything''?|[[Arthur Weasley|Mr. Weasley]]|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets}}
- An opening quote is welcome for almost any type of article.
- Quotes can be said by the article's subject, or said by someone else about the article's subject.
- Do not use links within a quote, unless it is the only mention in the article of a certain subject.
- If the speaker is another subject please include a link.
- Please include a source
- If the quote is not a simple quote but includes dialogue between multiple characters see Category:Quote and dialogue templates
Article body
Example (for an article about a Character): '''Harry Potter''' was... (insert introductory sentence or paragraph) ==Biography== ===Childhood=== ... ... ... ===Hogwarts=== ... ====1991-1992==== ... ====The Battle of Hogwarts==== ... ===After the War=== ...
- Start headings at the second level (==)
- Headings and subheadings are usually not required for very small articles.
Example: [[File:HPotter boggart dementor.jpg|thumb|200px|Harry Potter's boggart, a Dementor]]
- Images should be placed where they are most relevant and should not interrupt the flow or the aesthetics of the article.
- Images should have some sort of description.
- Images should be placed before or after paragraphs or sections of text, not right in the middle of them.
- Placing them immediately underneath a heading or subheading usually works quite well.
Example: {{quote|Viktor? Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?|Ron|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire}}
- In addition to the introductory quote, further quotes may be used throughout an article.
- Quotes are usually placed immediately underneath a heading or subheading, though they can also be used between paragraphs (albeit more sparingly).
- See Category:Quote and dialogue templates
Physical description
Example: ==Physical description== ...
- Used to describe what a character or creature, etc. looks like
Personality and traits
Example: ==Personality and traits== ...
- Used for Character articles, if that type of information is available.
- If the character has had many or strenuous relationships use the Relationships section below
Example: ===Relationships=== ... ====Relationship 1==== ... ====Relationship 2==== ...
- Used to describe the relationships the character has had with others
Behind the scenes (notice the capitalisation)
Example: ==Behind the scenes==
- Portrayal information (for characters appearing in films, computer games, cartoons, radio dramatisations)
- Origin of subject - subject's first appearance, who was responsible for creating and/or naming the subject, how the subject came about, was it based on anything, who did the concept art, etc.
- If naming information is lengthy the Name etymology section below can be added
- Contradictions - point out if one official source contradicts another, and which (if any) is accepted as canon
- Differences between the books and films, in reference to that article
- Speculation - only included if the speculation is WIDELY believed by fans, or any speculation made by authors
- Filming - if it has a real world location, point out where it is and when it was filmed
Name etymology
Example: ===Name etymology===
- Who was responsible for naming the subject, was it based on anything, etc.
- What the root of the name means
J. K. Rowling
Example: ===J. K. Rowling===
- Used if J. K. Rowling has had specific information to say on the subject from interviews, etc.
- Bulleted list of films, novels, and games that the subject has appeared in
- These are de facto references or sources, but they are listed separately because they are in-universe
- Includes even the smallest mentions in dialogue, narration, or visual appearance
- Should be sorted in order of in-universe chronology
- Games and films of the same name should be listed separately in the following order:
- Book
- Film
- Game
- Do not pipe film and video game titles, e.g.:
- BAD: [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]
- GOOD: [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)]]
- If a subject's appearance in a specific film/book/comic is only a brief mention, apply the {{Mention}} template, e.g. for Time-Turner:
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
- For a subject's first appearance in the saga (in order of publication, not in order of internal chronology), use the {{1st}} template, e.g. for Sirius Black:
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (First appearance)
- If a subject's first appearance in the series is only a mere mention, use the {{1st Mention}} and {{1st}} template, e.g. for Luna Lovegood:
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First mentioned)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First appearance)
- A subject might not be named in its first appearance, but is identified in a later source. In this case, use {{1st}} and {{1st ID}}, e.g. for Tom Marvolo Riddle:
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First identified as Tom Riddle)
- The name is optional, if it is not used the page name will be substituted
- If a character has non-canon appearance, use the {{Non-canon}} template, e.g. for Nigel:
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (First appearance) (Non-canonical appearance)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (Non-canonical appearance)
- If you wish to specifically point out a Chapter or Page as a reference, please use the {{Chapters}} or {{Pages}} template, e.g.:
- (Chapter(s) 10-12)
- (Page(s) 100-123 US Paperback)
- It is preferred that Chapters are used (since they are the same in all editions)
- For generic comments, use {{Comment}}. For example, {{Comment|Early drafts}} will produce:
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Early drafts)
- Please see Category:Appearance templates for a full list of premade comments
Clean appearances
For characters that appear in many of the books/films/games its easier to copy "everything" from another article and add or subtract as necessary. Below is a comprehensive, though not necessary complete list of sources for a major Harry Potter character to currently be in:
Example: ==Appearances== *''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' {{1st}} *''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)]]'' *''[[Quidditch Through the Ages (real)|Quidditch Through the Ages]]'' *''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (real)|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]'' *''[[The Tales of Beedle the Bard (real)|The Tales of Beedle the Bard]]'' *''[[Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book]]'' *''[[The Queen's Handbag]]'' *''[[Harry Potter: Find Scabbers]]'' *''[[Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup]]'' *''[[LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4]]'' *''[[LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7]]'' *''[[LEGO Creator: Harry Potter]]'' *''[[LEGO Creator: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' *''[[LEGO|Harry Potter LEGO Sets]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey]]'' *''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Motorbike Escape]]'' *''[[Wonderbook: Book of Spells]]'' *''[[Pottermore]]''
Notes and references
- List of sources for information in the "Behind the scenes" section.
- Also used to source from J. K. Rowling interviews and her website.
- Items are added to the list by placing <ref>Source goes here</ref> after the information tidbit in question.
- These citations also need to be made outside of the punctuation (i.e. after the period and outside any quotation marks).
- To get the references to show up in this section, insert the following code:
==Notes and references== {{Reflist}}
See also
Example: ==See also== ...
- Links to related topics not already linked in article
- Usually links to family pages or organisations
External links
Example: ==External links== ...
- It's called "External links" even if there is currently only one link
- Links to other unofficial sources, e.g. fan sites, Wikipedia articles
- NO links to JKRowling.com here - it is an official source and should be treated that way
Succession box
Example: {{Start box}} {{Succession box |predecessor=Unknown |position=[[Transfiguration]] Professor at [[Hogwarts]] |years=—[[1956]] |successor=[[Minerva McGonagall]] }} {{Succession box |predecessor=Unknown |position=Deputy Headmaster of [[Hogwarts]] |years=—[[1956]] |successor=Unknown, eventually [[Minerva McGonagall]] }} {{End box}}
Succession boxes serve two purposes: to list the time period for which an individual held a certain post/title, and to provide links to their immediate predecessor and/or successor. Due to the tendency of contributors to insert speculation and fanon into succession boxes, it is best to follow these "do nots":
- Do not insert succession boxes for titles that were unique to a certain individual and, therefore, result in no predecessors or successors. The same applies if the individual is the only known holder of the title.
- E.g. Lord Voldemort
- Do not insert succession boxes if the individual's position in the succession sequence is unclear.
- Do not insert succession boxes for something that is not a proper title. For example, a succession box for Severus Snape where the title is "Holds an Unbreakable Vow to Albus Dumbledore".
If the individual was the first (last) person to bear a certain title, the "Preceded by" ("Succeeded by") section should read "None". If there are no known predecessors/successors, the corresponding section should read "Unknown". However, if there are some known predecessors/successors, the section should read "Unknown, eventually <name of the chronologically nearest individual>". (Example: Millicent Bagnold's immediate predecessor as Minister for Magic is unknown, therefore, the succession box reads "Unknown, eventually Nobby Leach".)
The phrase "the first (last) person to bear a certain title" means that there are no successors because the title was made (obsolete). If the individual in question continues to hold the title "currently" (where the "present" is defined as the date of the last published Harry Potter work), the "Succeeded by" section should read "Incumbent".
Order succession boxes by the years in which the position was held. The earliest held position is first. If multiple positions have the same starting year, then the earlier ending year is first, etc.
All succession boxes should be contained within two templates: {{Start box}} and {{End box}}. This ensures that there are no line breaks within succession boxes.
Example (for a stub about a character): {{character-stub}}
- Used at the bottom of the article body when the article is too vague or brief, AND when there is clearly more information that can be added
- See Category:Stub templates
Example: [[Category:Gryffindors|Potter, Harry]]
- Every article should have at least one category
- Categories should be listed in alphabetical order
- People should be categorized by their last name; for example, [[Category:Aurors|Potter, Harry]] or [[Category:Hogwarts prefects|Malfoy, Draco]].
- Articles beginning with an article ("a," "an," or "the") should be categorized by the first significant word; for example, [[Category:Locations|Burrow, The]].
- Articles placed in categories should not also be placed in that category's parent category; for example, articles in Category:Hufflepuffs should not also be placed in Category:Students.
Example: [[fi:Hermione Granger]]
- If there is a translation of an article available please place the proper code here.
Clean template
==Biography== ==Physical description== ==Personality and traits== ===Relationships=== ===Etymology=== ===Author's notes=== ==Behind the scenes== ==Appearances== ==See also== ==External links== ==Notes and references== {{reflist}} [[Category:]]


text:
99 questions/Solutions/49
(**) Gray codes.
An n-bit Gray code is a sequence of n-bit strings constructed according to certain rules. Find out the construction rules and write a predicate with the following specification:
% gray(N,C) :- C is the N-bit Gray code
gray :: Int -> [String]
gray 0 = [""]
gray n = let xs = gray (n-1) in map ('0':) xs ++ map ('1':) (reverse xs)
A similar solution using list comprehension to build the sub-lists:
gray :: Int -> [String]
gray 0 = [""]
gray n = [ '0' : x | x <- prev ] ++ [ '1' : x | x <- reverse prev ]
where prev = gray (n-1)
The Gray code can be recursively defined in the way that for determining the gray code of n we take the Gray code of n-1, prepend a 0 to each word, take the Gray code for n-1 again, reverse it and prepend a 1 to each word. At last we have to append these two lists. For more see the Wikipedia article.
Another completely different solution (using folds) that is way more efficient, because it needs just O(1) (constant) space:
gray :: Integral a => a -> [String]
gray 0 = [""]
gray n = foldr (\s acc -> ("0" ++ s):("1" ++ s):acc) [] $ gray (n-1)
The key is that the algorithm just crawls one time over the input-list and uses the (++) operator in a way that it just has a running time of O(1).

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Contract Specifications
55 W. Monroe Street,
Suite 1190,
Chicago, IL 60603
toll free: 1.800.258.6675
phone: +1.312.896.9897
Trading Futures and Options on Futures involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Opinions, market data, and recommendations are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Stage 5 Trading Corp. is a member of NFA and is subject to NFA's regulatory oversight and examinations. However, you should be aware that NFA does not have regulatory oversight authority over underlying or spot virtual currency products or transactions or virtual currency exchanges, custodians or markets.
Lost password?


text:
|Welcome to Lone Star Kennels
Home of the Alaskan Malamutes
We raise and breed AKC Giant and Standard Pure Bred Alaskan
Malamutes in Sulphur Springs Texas. We take pride in breeding
quality puppies.
Here at Lone Star Alaskan Malamutes We strive to raise and breed
quality, healthy, good tempered and very well socialized pets, and
working dogs.
We breed for Health, temperament,
quality and size.
We welcome you to come visit our kennel.
Come meet our malamutes!
|Remember puppies will be a lifetime
commitment,they will need time for training, time for
socializing and time for loving. What time you put
into this puppy is what the rewards will be of owning a
well brought up and socialized malamute.
|This kennel is not
a puppy mill.
We will not sell to
Brokers or Pet
If for any reason you are unable to keep
your Alaskan Malamute, no matter the
circumstances, the dog will always have a
home here at Lone Star Alaskan
Malamutes. I do not want any of these
animals turned into shelters or unknown
homes. This is very important to me
because these dogs are very important to
|It is important that you thoroughly research the characteristics of the Alaskan Malamute!
Alaskan Malamute is not for everyone! Beautiful and cuddly as they are, the Alaskan Malamute is as head-strong as it is intelligent. Training and socialization is a MUST and
should be commenced at a young age! Please refer to the page entitled "About the Alaskan Malamute" for additional information. And also please read up on training the Alaskan
Malamute. You can find that on Training and more page .We also have information on Spay/Neuter on our training and more Page. We welcome anyone to call us and ask
questions and tell us your stories about your malamutes. We have owned this breed for 42 year now and we love to talk about our Malamute! If their is any info i missed on putting
on our web site about the malamutes please contact us and tell us i want to make sure we have as much info as possible for everyone to read about them. I do not want anyone to
run out and just buy one because their beautiful its important to me to make sure they get the best homes and homes that understand them and the good and the bad. I'm a
breeder that don't hide anything. When someone buyers one of my puppies or adopts a adult from me they know I'm always here to support them and help them as much as
possible through training and everything for Life also welcome everyone to come meet our malamutes!! See how are dogs live see where our puppies grow up. Our malamutes are
very spoiled!!!
Male or Female
both the male and the female are capable of becoming excellent companions and are equally easy to housebreak, do consider the fact that a male Malamute will mature to be
considerably larger than his female litter mates. Please go to Training and more page to read more about this.
If your looking for a akc "standard Alaskan malamutes puppies for sale" or a akc"Giant Alaskan Malamutes puppies for sale "please visit our akc Alaskan Malamute Puppies for
sale page.
No puppies are born out side here. We have a nursery for our moms and puppies. The nursery is secluded from the other dogs which provides the mother with privacy and also
protects them from inclement weather. The nursery is cleaned daily . Our nursery has heat for the winter and also air- conditioned for the hot summer days. We want to make sure
our mothers and puppies are comfortable . You can read about this on our kennel operation page.
" Standard" AKC Alaskan Malamutes vs. "Giant" AKC Alaskan Malamutes:
The standard weight for an Alaskan Malamute is 75-85 lbs. 23-25 inches at the shoulders."Giant" Alaskan Malamutes are generally considered to be in the 100+ lb. Range.
AKC Giant Alaskan malamutes are so much larger than standard, they can take up to three years to reach maturity. It is not uncommon for a pup to grow at a rate of 3-5 lbs a week
during the first few months, and during this time, it is crucial to feed the correct food for the breed type, and not over-feed while the bones are developing. The only difference in the
AKC giant Alaskan malamute and standard AKC Alaskan malamute is the size. BOTH ARE BIG LOVABLE TEDDY BEARS
Alaskan Malamutes , Texas,Missouri,Tennessee,Oklahoma,Illinois, Iowa,California,Florida,New York, New Jersey, Arkansas,North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Maine, Kansas, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska,Nevada,New Hampshire,North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, South Dakota
|We Have AKC Alaskan Malamute Puppies Available
Here at Lone Star Alaskan Malamutes we produce All
Colors black/white,
and the all white and red/white.
|Giant Alaskan Malamute
|We are a reputable breeder
of giant and standard
Alaskan malamutes.
|We have some of the most beautiful giant
Alaskan malamutes around.
|Giant Alaskan Malamute puppies for sale/
AKC Giant Alaskan Malamute puppies for sale.
AKC breeder of Alaskan malamute puppies for


text:
Beat the Streak Report: Weekend, Sept. 18-20
Today's recommended picks
Jason Bay, OF, Red Sox
.500 AVG (5-for-10) lifetime vs. Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie
Raul Ibanez, OF, Phillies
.467 AVG (7-for-15) since '04 vs. Braves starter Tim Hudson
Mark Teahen, INF/OF, Royals
.453 AVG (24-for-53) lifetime vs. White Sox starter Mark Buehrle
Saturday's recommended picks
Paul Konerko, 1B, White Sox
.533 AVG (8-for-15) lifetime vs. Royals starter Kyle Davies
Prince Fielder, 1B, Brewers
.545 AVG (6-for-11) lifetime vs. Astros starter Brian Moehler
Jeff Francoeur, OF, Mets
.500 AVG (8-for-16) lifetime vs. Nationals starter John Lannan
Sunday's recommended picks
Ryan Ludwick, OF, Cardinals
.636 AVG (7-for-11) lifetime vs. Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano
Brian Roberts, 2B, Orioles
.500 AVG (6-for-12) lifetime vs. Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka
Magglio Ordonez, OF, White Sox
.424 AVG (14-for-33) lifetime vs. Twins starter Scott Baker
BTS all-time leader: Michael Karatzia, 49
MLB all-time leader: Joe DiMaggio, 56
Yesterday's results
Despite the fewer choices available during Thursday's light slate of games, the Top 5 BTS leaders managed to hold steady in the standings.
enronshorttrader played it safe by selecting hit machine Ichiro Suzuki, who went 2-for-6 vs. the White Sox. The first of his hits extended the leader's streak to 40 games, marking the eighth time this season a contestant has reached that plateau.
GBaby remained stuck on 35 games for another day, as Kevin Youkilis didn't play vs. the Angels. That enabled khreynolds, who tabbed Ichiro to move up at 31 games, to inch closer to a share of second place.
larrythemailman1 went with Chase Utley (1-for-3) to reach the 30-game mark, and j-m-peterson brought his streak up to 29 games by selecting Evan Longoria (3-for-4).
Yesterday's Top 5 most selected players
1. Ichiro Suzuki (SEA): 13.1%, 2-for-6
2. Victor Martinez (BOS): 10.2%, 1-for-3
3. Hanley Ramirez (FLA): 5.9%, 1-for-4
4. Evan Longoria (TB): 5.5%, 3-for-4
5. Shane Victorino (PHI): 5.1%, 0-for-3
20 Comments
Going with Jacoby Ellsbury v. O's today.
Good Luck to all!
Saturday 9/19
Clash of the Titans…………
CC Sabathia v. Ichirio
Justin Verlander v. Mauer
I'm looking at RSOX v. O's
Ellsbury, Pedroia or Youklis v. David Hernandez
Francouer NYM v. Lannan NATS – Meaningless games can be dangerous.(?)
Any thoughts?
I'm sticking with Jeter – have him tonight as well and he got a hit during his first at bat. The bad news is that Mauer had an O-fer tonight and that poor guy lost his streak. Unless someone beats 45, which is getting less likely, TannerNielsen will get the 10K. They should increase that prize. By the time you pay taxes on it you'll probably just have enough left to buy the 2 free tickets lol…..
How many streaks has Joe Mauer ended?
0-2, walk, an intentional walk.
The King celebrates another year of not givng away the grand prize.
Jeter does look good on Sat.
hammanm – Torii Hunter was another timely pick on Friday.
On paper it didn't look so good – but he came through.
Who do you like on Sat?
Sat 9/19
Going with Jacoby Ellsbury v. Hernandez of O's – he is hittable and I hoping that at least one of those hits come from the bat of Ellsbury!
Rajai Davis is hot – lead off hitter – 2 hits last night – batting .409 in Sept
Sowers of Tribe scares me today for some odd reason.
Today I'm going with Rajai Davis vs. Jeremy Sowers
Like I've said earlier, there's an awful lot of luck needed in this game. All the stats in the world don't help when you get a batter who gets cold or goes up against a hot pitcher. There's over 250 potential batter's availble to pick from each day. You just have to pick ONE who stays hot, continues his success against that particular pitcher or team that day, or just gets lucky enough to get that weak infield hit (as I did with Holiday near the end of my big streak).
Hammann – Luck is a huge factor in the game as you state.
enronshorttrader is a perfect example – He had Ichirio v. WSOX on Thursday – Ichirio was 0 – fer for the game, M's tied game in bottom of the 9th and Ichirio get a hit in the 10th inning and another hit, the game winner, in the bottom of the 14th inning. If you look at the box score he was 2 – 6. But that does not tell the whole story – Luck played a huge role in that game. Then the next day, enrodshorttrader goes down if flames with Mauer. Mauer was intentionally walked in the bottom of the 8th in yesterdays game – dashing the hope that the would get a hit in his last at bat and extend the streak from enron!
Mauer is like Pujols – walked and pitched to like it is the bottom of the 9th in a world series game – when you take either of these 2 be aware of the walk factor.
Hoping Rajai and Jacoby go 10 for 10 today!
I appreciate your posts as they make me take a harder and harder look at home the game is played.
I lost my streak with a hot Mauer who was walked twice in that game.
I had Mauer for today and had a 10 game streak and he hit a home run in his first at bat so I'm at 11.
All they need is 1 hit each.
Sunday 9/20 – Going with Ichirio.
Ellsbury hitless through 8th inning – looks like my 14 game streak is history!
hammanm – Truer words were never spoken than: "All they need is 1 hit each." Jacoby Ellsbury makes makes an out leading off the 8th inning. RSOX go on a tear and bat around in the 8th. Ellsbury leads off the 9th and gets a single. His 0 – 4 becomes a 1 – 5 and I now have my longest streak ever 15 games. hammanm – I don't trust myself for Sunday – Who do you like? Please post when you can, I will be away from my computer tomorrow after 7:00am.
I have picked Magglio Ordonex vs. Scott Baker for tomorrow.
Ichiro's not necessarily a bad pick for tomorrow.
They're only bad picks if they end up not getting a hit. Odds are always pretty good that Ichiro is going to get a hit on any given day regardless of the pitcher.
hammanm – Thanks for the advice – I'm going to stick with Ichirio.
I have Ichiro today as well I agree with hammanm – good pick. Jeter looks good for tomorrow; Seth Smith for Tuesday. Any input???
Good luck to all today…..dragbunt hope you make it to 16 and beyond…. 🙂 Ever since my streak I can't seem to get out of the basement. Highest I have gotten to since mid-August is 5. UGH.
Ichirio goes 0-fer as M's beat NYY 7 – 1.
I like Jeter on Monday but being a Cub fan I'm going to start my new streak with Derek Lee v. Looper MIL.
Also taking DLEE in HR Survivor.
Good luck to all on Monday!


text:
Remember this little sweetie pie I found for FREE off of KSL this last weekend?
Here she is now:
It's a good thing I really love my French Wingback chair, because this baby looks pretty dang good in our new Master Bedroom. Hopefully she will look just as darling in a buyer's home soon.
Enough from me for one day... thank you for reading!
I'm linking my chair transformation up to these fabulous blogger's parties. Check them out!


text:
The world's largest beauty and cosmetics company, L'Oreal, has made a landmark promise to remove forest destruction from the products they sell.
"Because I'm Worth It" is a catchy slogan coined 40 years ago by the French cosmetics company. It spoke about female empowerment and was in fact created by one of the few female copywriters in the industry.
But now we feel the slogan has taken on a whole new meaning.
Their commitment to cut forest destruction from their supply chains is a win for consumers and forests around the world.
We urge l'Oreal to guarantee their products are forest-friendly sooner rather than later and not wait till the 2020 deadline the company has set. If Ferrero can set a deadline for 2015, then so can other companies, L'Oreal included.
There's a good chance that you use palm oil everyday, without even knowing about it. It's an ingredient in products as diverse as shampoo, toothpaste, chocolate, and detergent. It's virtually everywhere. Plantations for palm oil sell their palm oil fruit to traders. And from these companies it's sold to huge corporations that make products we find on our supermarket shelves.
To get this far has not been easy. And though you may not know it, it was certainly not possible without you.
This story starts nearly a year ago, when we began to investigate how Wilmar International, the world's largest palm oil trader, was laundering dirty palm oil and selling it to major brands, like Gillette, Ferrero, Cadbury, L'Oreal and Clearasil.
We revealed how companies' weak policies expose consumers to forest destruction, confronted companies at their offices, and contacted corporations the world over.
Then something interesting happened.
First Ferrero announced a detailed, ambitious policy to only buy forest-friendly palm oil. Then Mondelez (which makes Cadbury) followed with an announcement to start working on a similar policy.
And then we threw the spotlight on companies' sourcing practices in the Tiger Challenge, showing how weak policies allow forest destruction to get into your products.
On 5 December, Wilmar announced that it would stop clearing forests and stop buying oil from companies that it knew were engaged forest destruction.
And now L'Oreal.
While you may not have sent an email to L'Oreal about their palm oil use, being part of Greenpeace meant that you didn't need to. Just the possibility that you and millions of others around the world might take action was enough to persuade these companies to act now.
Backed by global people power, we were able to convince L'Oreal to hammer out a commitment that will, if implemented, protect forests.
That's the kind of power you hold.
L'Oreal now joins Nestle, Unilever and Ferrero, which have committed to No Deforestation policies, and applies to all their brands such as Maybelline, Garnier and Kielh's, to name a few.
We look forward to the day when L'Oreal can finally guarantee its products are totally free from forest destruction. In the meantime, we'll keep pushing L'Oreal to guarantee forest-friendly products earlier than 2020. The forests can't wait six more years.
L'Oreal's commitment puts the heat on those who continue to drag their feet. Companies that produce brands such as Heads & Shoulders, Colgate and Clearasil must step up and commit keep up to date with how we intend to ramp up the pressure on companies that continue to drag their feet.
Share this:
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
- Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)


text:
The Forex world is constantly evolving and during its weekly trading hours there is a wealth of news a trader must keep on top of if they want to make the most money possible. Indeed, because the market can be affected by a number of dynamics, it is essential they know exactly what's happening at all times in order to avoid any unprofitable deals.
For example, let's assume the US Dollar is trading well against the Great British Pound during the first half of the week. This would be a good time to invest some money and reap the benefits of a positive market condition. However, by Wednesday a series of negative news stories emerge from the UK and affect the country's economic performance. These dynamics then adversely affects how well the two currencies are trading. At this point it's important to know what's just happened because it will influence whether or not someone should cease trading this currency pair for a while or continue.
Knowing the value of each currency based on various internal and external factors is crucial and the reason why FXBrokerSearch.com's Forex news centre is a vital resource. Drawing on a number of resources, our information section provides the latest information and data from which users can refine their trading activity.
Beyond shifts in the currency market itself, FXBrokerSearch.com's new section has been designed to give traders an insight into the best offers and promotions. By monitoring each of our 200+ Forex brokers we're able to quickly tell users about the latest updates and bonuses.
By compiling all this current data into one portal we believe investors will be able to make even more money in the Forex market. Indeed, thanks to our dedicated team of analysts and experts, users can find out the latest market developments as well as the best deals in the industry. Putting all this together should help everyone gain a better understanding of the market, which in turn should give them the ability to make even more money.
An interest rate hike will likely be appropriate this year given the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision last week to stand pat was a "close call," a top Fed policy ..
Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker on Saturday said he dissented at a Fed policy meeting because he thought the economy was now strong enough to warrant higher ..
Global economic uncertainties might have impacted the timing of a U.S. interest rate rise but the market continues to expect the Fed to act, European Central Bank council memb ..
The Federal Reserve's decision not to hike interest rates may have brought renewed volatility and a stock market selloff, but it also carved out breathing room for a coup ..
Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp has started preparing for the closure of its sole U.S. factory after failing to find a buyer for the high-cost auto plant, the Nikkei busin ..
The Obama administration on Friday tore down barriers to U.S. companies doing business on the Communist-ruled island just south of Miami, but plenty of regulatory and legal ro ..
Dimon said the economy would have grown faster without the Washington gridlock, but said he did not blame the government as it is elected by the people. "If we want peopl ..
Business confidence data from China and the euro zone will offer some pointers this week to where the global economy is going after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept markets guess ..
United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams on Friday said he hopes to have ratification votes on a proposed labor contract for 40,000 U.S. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCHA.M ..
More U.S. companies are considering moving plants overseas given concerns about the shutdown of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the largest U.S. aerospace trade group said Friday ..
Risk Disclosure: fxBrokerSearch.com will not be held liable for any financial loss or damage caused by users acting upon any information contained within this website, not limited to and including: all numerical data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals. Moreover, please be advised that Forex trading is one of the most volatile investment forms in the world and all trades should be placed with full consideration of the risks and costs.
fxBrokerSearch.com does not support nor encourage the execution of any investments. Trading with a margin is high risk endeavour and not suitable for everyone, therefore, each investor should carefully consider all relevant trading conditions, such as experience, risk and cost, before taking part in any type of trading, including Forex.
While every effort has been made to ensure all our data is as accurate as possible, fxBrokerSearch.com cannot be held responsible for any prices that are not in line with real-time data. Indeed, the currency exchange market is constantly changing and all CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are set by market makers.
This means advertised prices may not be accurate and could differ from the actual market conditions. For this reason it is not appropriate to rely on any data presented by fxBrokerSearch.com for the purposes of trading.
Based on these conditions, fxBrokerSearch.com will not be held responsible for any losses incurred through trades conducted in light of data presented on this site.


text:
Best Blues Clubs around Waterville, ME
Add an OrganizationRead More »Read More »Read More »
Mainely Brews
1 Post Office SquareWaterville, ME
Mainely Brews is dedicated to improving our little piece of the planet We are transitioning into a "Green" establishment that has a minimum impact ...Read More »
Joshua's Restaurant & Tavern
123 Maine StreetBrunswick, ME
Small taverns which offered good food at reasonable prices and cold ales in a warm comfortable atmosphere, were once common to locals and overnight...Read More »
Port City Music Hall
504 Congress StreetPortland, ME
Waterville Top Searches
Empire Dine and Dance
575 Congress StreetPortland, ME
Empire is a venue (above Empire Chinese Kitchen) located in Portland's Arts District. Whether a rock show, or a wedding reception, we do it all! Co...Read More »
One Longfellow Square
181 State Street, Suite 201Portland, ME
About Us:One Longfellow Square is one of Portland, Maine's most charming and versatile, non-profit performing arts venues, offering a warm an...Read More »
Stone Mountain Arts Center
695 Dug Way RoadBrownfield, ME
About Us: So reading about a new arts center is not going to blow your socks off, make your jaw drop or even get your undies in a bunch like my no...Read More »
Jonathan's Ogunquit
92 Bourne LaneOgunquit, ME
Welcome to Jonathan's Ogunquit, where you can find casual-fine dining, a contemporary lounge atmosphere, exquisite gardens, a 600-Gallon Fish Tank,...Read More »
Inn on the Blues
7 Ocean AvenueYork, ME
Built in the late 19th Century the Inn has continued its tradition of being recognized as "The Place to be in Southern Maine."Â One of only a hand...Read More »
York Harbor Inn
480 York StreetYork Harbor, ME
To more fully understand the Inn's historic roots, it is helpful to learn a bit about York, Maine's rich and remarkable past. The first settlers ca...Read More »
The Dolphin Striker
15 Bow StreetPortsmouth, NH
Set in a historic building at the corner of Ceres and Bow Streets, adjacent to thePortsmouth Harbor, The Dolphin Striker is a gem in Portsmouth's d...Read More »
Truffle at the Press Room
77 Daniel StreetPortsmouth, NH
The Press Room is the longest running bar, restaurant, and live entertainment venue in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For more than four deca...Read More »
Tower Hill Tavern
264 Lakeside AvenueLaconia, NH
The Tower Hill Tavern is one of the Central New Hamphires premier live blue and music venues,with some of the hottest and most talented artist and ...Read More »
Broken Spoke Saloon
1072 Watson RoadLaconia, NH
It all began 20+ years ago in Sturgis, South Dakota. What began as a small band of dedicated riders with a love for the open road and a thirst for ...Read More »
Blue Ocean Music Hall
4 Oceanfront NorthSalisbury, MA
Opened in November 2009, and heralded as the "best live music venue on Boston's North Shore," Blue Ocean Music Hall at The Pavilion on Salisbury Be...Read More »
The Upper Deck On The Atlantic
18 BroadwaySalisbury, MA
Pitman's Freight Room
94 New Salem StreetLaconia, NH
Pitman's Freight Room is a stand-alone facility. Your special event will be as private as you want it to be. We can assist you with all of your cat...Read More »
The Grog Restaurant
13 Middle StreetNewburyport, MA
Glenn's Restaurant And Cool Bar
44 Merrimac StreetNewburyport, MA
Welcome to Glenn's Restaurant & Cool Bar, one of Newburyport's premier restaurants & entertainment destination. Located adjacent to the his...Read More »
The Country Cow Restaurant And Bar
57 Blair RoadCampton, NH
The Country Cow was originally built in 1978, sits on the edge of the Pemigewasset River and overlooks the scenic Blair Covered Bridge. In May of 2...Read More »
Search in a different zip code / city:


text:
The Hallowed Tower is a small tower resembling a well in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, and is the only location where Spiritomb appears. If the player talks to 32 people in the Underground, not including NPCs, the player can then return here to encounter Spiritomb. The tower is located on Route 209. On its unreadable engraving prior to an Odd Keystone is assigned on it.
How to get Spiritomb in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum
In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum Versions, in order to obtain Spiritomb, the player should:
- On Route 209, simply place an Odd Keystone in the tower.
- Enter the Underground and interact to other players 32 times.
- Interact with the Hallowed Tower. A level 25 Spiritomb will appear, and a battle with it will begin as soon as possible.
It is important to note that one does not need to talk to 32 different players. One of the players may have to leave the main part of the Underground between interactions for each one to count. The fastest way to accomplish this is by entering and leaving a secret base; alternately, digging in the walls for treasure between each interaction also works. The number of players the player has talked to can be checked in the Underground by selecting the menu, and viewing the Trainer Card. The number of people met is the number of players one has talked to.
Interactable Pokémon
Diamond and Pearl
| Level:
| Type:
| Ability:
| Held item:
| Level:
| Type:
| Ability:
| Held item:
AnimeThe Hallowed Tower first appeared in the episode The Keystone Pops!. Ash and Dawn unintentionally discharged Spiritomb from it.
- It is the only location in Sinnoh where Spritomb can be found.
- Spiritomb can be obtained again; though, all of the steps stated above must be followed again to do so, including interacting to players in the Underground another 32 times.
- Depending on the amount of players the player has talked to, the game will display different messages, likewise, "It's the Hallowed Tower. It appears to have been built many years ago.", "...Is that crying coming from inside the tower?," or "Is the tower shaking ever so slightly?"
- Players hint to actual people playing the game, who appear in the Underground via DS Wireless Connection. Interacting to the NPC vendors or traders will not count towards the total needed to summon Spiritomb.
|This article is a stub.
Please help the Pokémon Wiki by expanding it.
Pokémon League
Caves, Tunnels and Mountains
Places of Interest
Valley Windworks · Fuego Ironworks · Galactic Eterna Building · Hallowed Tower · Lost Tower · Solaceon Ruins
Galactic HQ · Great Marsh · Spear Pillar · Snowpoint Temple · Sendoff Spring · Hall of Origin · Canalave Library
Flower Paradise · Seabreak Path · Distortion World Pt · Iceberg Ruins Pt · Iron Ruins Pt · Rock Peak Ruins Pt
|Other regions: Kanto (Sevii Islands) · Johto · Hoenn · Sinnoh (Battle Zone) · Unova · Kalos · Alola · Galar (Isle of Armor · Crown Tundra)


text:
Building NetBeans IDE source for Python Development
For the generic guide to work with NetBeans sources, see http://wiki.netbeans.org/HgNetBeansSources
This build requires JDK 7, and assumes you have installed ant and Mercurial, and both are included on your system's path.
It also requires that you set (or export) ANT_OPTS=-Xmx960m (or thereabouts), and set (or export) JAVA_HOME=[path-to-Java]\jdk1.7.0_79
Obtaining the Sources
- Open a terminal (command prompt) window, and navigate to a directory (folder) where you want the code to reside. Note that cloning can take a VERY long time, depending on your network connection. You may want to start it, and go to lunch (or something).
- Clone the main repository.
hg clone http://hg.netbeans.org/main
- Navigate to the main root directory (just created by the hg clone command), and clone the contrib repository.
hg clone http://hg.netbeans.org/main/contribThis will create the contrib subdirectory containing the Python sources (and other community-supported projects).
After both clones have completed, you can build the IDE and Python bits:
- From the command-line (shell), navigate to the main directory, and execute ant This starts the build for the IDE.
- After the IDE build is successful (still in the main directory), execute ant -Dcluster.config=python build to start the build for the Python bits.
Note that you may find it useful to redirect the build output to a file like: ant -Dcluster.config=python build >\temp\buildpython.txt or similar. This way you can review the complete output in case something goes awry.
- After both builds have succeeded, you can try the result by invoking ant tryme
To debug the resulting NetBeans IDE and Python, start NetBeans IDE, and open whichever Python projects you are interested in debugging from \main\contrib
Then, open the project "NetBeans Build System" from \main\nbbuild\build.xml
Expand the node for NetBeans Build System, then expand the node for build.xml
Scroll down to the entries that start with tryme.
- tryme simply starts the built IDE (with Python). Fast startup but no debug.
- tryme-debug starts the built IDE (with Python) in debug mode, meaning you can set breakpoints in the code and do all the other things the debugger allows.
To invoke one of these, right-click on one of them and click: Run Target
Working with mercurial
Mercurial is the distributed version control software used by Netbeans and the Python NetBeans module. The starting point to use it is the 'Netbeans Mercurial How-to'
When working daily (or nightly!) in the Netbeans python code you may be faced with urgent simple fixes (ready to commit) mixed with more complex changes that you want keep locally until they reach a stable state. Meanwhile another developer has pushed modifications ready to be merged. This tricky situation may happen often and you'll may find yourself scratching your head when you see the infamous:
$ hg merge abort: outstanding uncommitted changes
Tor Norbye provided some good Mercurial tips regarding this scenario on his blog.
Filing Bugs
Before filing a bug, check for duplicates by searching Bugzilla at
If you find an existing report for your bug, please comment on it and/or "vote" for it.
Otherwise, file your newly-found bug under the Python category: http://www.netbeans.org/issues/enter_bug.cgi?component=python&issue_type=DEFECT


text:
Monday, March 22, 2010
Joanna Newsom live in concert, NPR tomorrow
That's Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "The nail biter." Tomorrow night, NPR streams Joanna Newsom live in concert:
When Joanna Newsom first emerged on the musical landscape in 2004 with her debut album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, a lot of people thought she was a novelty act. She sang with a whimsical, childlike voice, and the songs had precious titles such as "Peach, Plum, Pear" and "Sprout and the Bean." And, of course, Newsom plucked a classical harp instead of a guitar. But this year, the singer returned with a stunningly ambitious, three-disc collection called Have One on Me. Newsom's voice has matured; the orchestrations are richer and the themes darker. It's a breathtaking musical adventure you can hear performed live in concert when NPR Music webcasts Newsom's performance from Washington, D.C., on March 23. The show, from the Sixth and I Synagogue, will begin streaming on NPR.org at approximately 9 p.m. ET.
Speaking of NPR, so March 16th is the last time they filed a story from Iraq and today is March 22nd. If you caught Ron Elving two weeks ago telling Diane Rehm that NPR is covering Iraq all the time, all the time! All of it!
I'd hate to think Quil Lawrence, having made an ass out of himself publicly, is now a-scared to cover Iraq.
No one forced him to pretend to be an expert on how the vote would go before any votes were counted. No one forced him to handicap the election. All he had to do was report. But that was just too hard for him.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, March 22, 2010. Chaos and violence continue, the race in Iraq is still too close to call, but some call already for a recount, protests took place around the US over the weekend, a US House Representative states the actual wounded (US service members) are being miscounted (intentionally miscounted) and more.
On the latest installment of Inside Iraq (Al Jazeera, began airing Friday), one of Jasim's guests was the author Jurgen Todenhofer (former member of the German Parliament, Christian Democratic Party) and we're excerpting so as to note his remarks.
Jasim al-Azzawi: Jurgen Todenhofer, explain the enagmatic title of your book, Why Do You Kill, Zaid? Who is Zaid? And why are you asking him "why do you kill"?
Jurgen Todenhofer: The reason why I ask this question and why I make this trip to Iraq and sometimes also to Afghanistan is that the Western people, the people from the United States and from my country don't understand the Muslim world. They don't understand why these people are fighting, why they want to be friend. And I didn't want to give the answer. I wanted to ask a young student who lives in Ramadi and he was fighting against Americans and he has destroyed a tank. And I wanted to ask him why did you kill? And I spent a week with him in Ramadi and he told me his story and just a story of a young student, a student like all the students all over the world, he wanted to study and he didn't want to fight. And then his brother was killed and then he decided together with his youngest brother to continue to study and not to fight. And then the Americans killed his second brother. And he saw his second brother dying in front of their house, he couldn't go outside because there was heavy shooting. He saw through the window how his little brother died and, this night, he decided to fight. And he became a fighter. He became a fighter not to revenge but to free his country and that's his story. And when I ask, "Why do you kill, Zaid?" -- he gave me the answer. And it was a very sad answer.
[. . .]
Jasim al-Azzawi: You did something very unusual, Jurgen Todenhofer, you went an actually covered the war from the perspective of the Iraqi resistance. You went and saw exactly what they were doing. Were they fighting the Americans? Were they fighting al Qaeda? Who were they fighting against?
Jurgen Todenhofer: They were fighting for the freedom of their country and they were fighting for the pride of their country. But I -- Juan [Cole], I think there are still secrets in Iraq because the Iraq images, the images that we see from Baghdad are not the truth. I was in Iraq again in spring last year, in August last year, and this legendary city of 1001 Nights has turned into a gloomy fortress of thousands of shooting towers, of thousands of heavily armed checkpoints. And you can perhaps now, because you were a little bit optimistic, you can perhaps now vote freely -- I say perhaps -- but you can't move freely anymore. And I had a team -- a camera team -- because I am making a film about kids in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I ask my camera team, "Please film these concrete walls, film these-these towers, film these surveillance balloons over the city." And they said, "We cannot." And I asked them ten minutes, fifteen minutes and then they said, "Yes, okay, we try." And in the evening, I got the information they were arrested, they were beaten up. The camera was confiscated, the material was confiscated and the laptop was destroyed. And the reason why we don't see the real image is that this actual government doesn't want us to see the truth of this country. And, for example, I was in the German Embassy and I spoke to the German ambassador and I wanted to discuss the situtation in Baghdad but these people are unable to tell you anything about Baghdad because the German diplomats and their embassy are not allowed to leave the Embassy one single minute the same holds true with the members and diplomats of the American Embassy.
[. . .]
Jurgen Todenhofer: Yeah, Juan, for those who are informed and I'm very happy that you are informed. Other people? But when I read the comments on the elections in the Western press, when I read that now a new chapter is open and when I see the reality in this country, the sadness. The US didn't liberate this country, they broke it. And, as an example, in August last year, I want to Sadr City to a Sheik. He's a Shi'ite Sheik, he's the leader of one of the biggest tribes in Iraq, he's 29. He's now the leader of the tribe because 12 members of his family have been killed. And I said, "Now you are a Shia Sheik. Are you better off? You're liberated from Saddam Hussein." And he said, "Never in the history of our country, there was such a mess than under the American occupation." And in the six and-a-half-years, it was last August, of the American occupation, more civilians have been killed than under the hard 35 years of Saddam.
[. . .]
Jurgen Todenhofer: We have to find a way for reconciliation in this country. And you have mentioned -- Juan has mentioned -- that we have excluded the elite of the army. Paul Bremer was the guy who did this very, very silly thing. We have excluded the elite of the administration. And we have to reconciliate this country like we did it in South Africa or like we did it in Germany. This means also that in the future political process has to be included the resistance, the leaders of the resistance, the whole resistance and this is not only Sunni resistance, this is also a Shi'ite resistance. I think we have also to include Ba'athists, those that didn't commit crimes.
Todenhofer is a voice with a view point not heard in the US media -- Big or Small -- so we've focused on him at the expense of an overexposed guest in the West who didn't even have the manners or good grace to say, "It was a pleasure to speak to you as well."
Over the weekend in the US, protests took place against the wars. They started Friday and continued through Sunday. In San Francisco, the protest I attended, you could follow the pink road, follow the pink road. I'm referring to a large ground banner which was pink and asked: "Where is our change? Where is our hope?" People began gathering for the rally a little before 11:30 in the morning (you could tell it was about to start as about 20 visible police officers were joined by 16 additional visible police officers just arriving) and, approximately an hour later, the march began ending a little after two o'clock. Chants included "Hey, hey, hey, ho/ The occupation has got to go!" and "Money for jobs and education! Not for wars and occupations!" Signs called out the occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine and drew links to where the US money went and where it didn't. I saw no signs regarding Columbia but I probably missed them. A speaker, Cristina Gutierrez, spoke on the issue and "even under the so-called liberal Obama administration, they still call our freedom fighters 'terrorists' regardless of whether they are in Columbia or Palestine." She gave a powerful speech on how change has not come, with a wide range of supporting evidence including that it is Barack's administration that continues to imprison Lynne Stewart and has "taken over 7 of the 12 military bases in Columbia."Cristina Gutierrez: We are hear to ask you to stop your government from destroying the aspirations of the people of the world for justice and freedom. We are hear not to ask you not to raise money for us not to commit solidarity with our people but we are here to ask you stop the military budget, to stop the wars and to demand that the money be spent on education, creating jobs, housing and health care of all in this country.It was a large group -- especially considering that there were demonstrations all over California (Los Angeles and San Diego being only two others). The people were diverse -- in terms of race and ethnicity, economic classification and age. Among the speakers were Daniel Ellsberg.Daniel Ellsberg: . . . 40 years ago, 41 years ago, in 1969, there was a group and a movement called the moratorium. And they called it the moratorium rather than call it a "general strike" because that seemed too inflamatory. But what it was was, like today, demonstrations all over the country being counted not just in one city. There was 75,000 in indeed in San Francisco, 100,000 in New York. But here were ten here, twenty there, a thousand there, all over the country adding up to 2 million. And the difference was that it was on a weekday. They took off for the day for this so it really was a general strike. They thought it had no effect. They were wrong, the people who ran that and the people who took part in it. Nixon had threatened the North, through Russia and China, that he was going to escalate on November 3, 1969. He was threatening and planning to use nuclear weapons. And, also, as well, to invade Laos and Cambodia, North Vietnam, hit the dikes, hit Hai Phong, All the things that he did do later in the invasion of North Vietnam. Ellsberg called for more actions like the ones today across the US and a general strike to send the message to DC that we can't "afford one or two trillion dollars away from our infrastructure, our education and our health to kill people". KPFA's Evening News' report on Saturday featured some of A.N.S.W.E.R.'s Richard Becker's speech. Jonathan Nack (Indybay Media -- link has text and photos) reports on the San Francisco action, "The mobilzation was notable not only for its greater size, which organizers estimated at 5,000, but also for its diversity. The crowd was both younger and more multiracial."
DC was the main focal point in the US. Cuba's Periodico reported that gathering rallied "at Lafayette Park on the north side of the White House. The rally was followed by a march that made stops at Halliburton, the Washington Post, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the National Endowment for Democracy and the Veterans Administration. Organizers said it was the largest demonstration to date opposing the Barack Obama administration's decision to expand the war in Afghanistan with tens of thousands more U.S. occupation troops." AP quoted Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan wondering if "the honeymoon was over with that war criminal in the White House," while Ralph Nader felt the only difference demonstrated between Bush and Barack was "Obama's speeches are better." Narayan Lakshman (The Hindu) added, "While the protest drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who marched during the final years of the Bush administration, the ANSWER coalition, the main organiser, said momentum was building due to disenchantment with President Obama's troop surge decision for Afghanistan. Other participating groups included Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and the National Council of Arab Americans and activists such as Ralph Nader and Cindy Sheehan." Russia Today offers video of the DC protests. The Times of India quoted Iraq War veteran and Iraq Veterans Against the War member Matthis Chiroux stating, "Obama policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are as criminal as Bush's. The US machine produces war regardless of who is president. We are killing innocents." David Rosenberg (The KPFA Evening News) reported Saturday, "At least eight people, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested by US Park Police at the end of the march after laying coffins at the fence outside the White House." Katherine Shaver (Washington Post) quotes A.N.S.W.E.R.'s Brian Becker stating, "A huge part of the antiwar movement has been focused on the Bush administration and its policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush is gone. Millions of people thought his exit would mean an end to these wars. Instead, after one year of real-life experience, they're far from ending." Also reporting on DC's action is Kosta Harlan (Fight Back!):Military veterans gave a powerful condemnation of the occupation, and two speakers with Military Families Speak Out and Iraq Veterans Against the War ripped their dog tags and badges off of their uniforms and threw them off the stage, in a symbol of their rejection of the immoral, unjust, and criminal occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.Many of the protestors were youth and new to the antiwar movement, and are committed to rebuilding a broad movement to force the United States to withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq.AP and NBC New York write that the Manhattan protest against the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars today only generated "a few dozen people." I call out the New York leadership in this entry Saturday (and I admit there and here that I was oh so wrong -- that entry was written when a friend and LA peace activist bet me the NYC protest would be miniscule). Good for those who demonstrated. Joan Wile is the author of Grandmothers Against the War. She and Edith Cresmer are members of the Granny Peace Brigade and they wrote the following regarding the NYC action:
On Saturday, March 20, 2010, a beautiful unseasonably warm day, the eighth year of our occupation of Iraq began. Although we are told that officially we are no longer fighting there, that we have pulled back our forces, nevertheless our soldiers continue to die there. And so do many more Iraqis. It is way past time for us to pull out, and yet we remain. Why?
To commemorate the end of our seven years of illegal and immortal attack and occupation of Iraq a compendium of 10 New York City peace groups called the Seven Years Too Many Coalition gathered at the Times Square Recuriting Center to protest the continuation of the war and to call for an end of all wars.
Cheryl Wertz, Exec, Director of Peace Action New York State (PANYS) introduced the speakers -- Councilwoman Gale Brewer, and Vietnam vet Chaplain Hugh Bruce of Veterans for Peace. They discussed some of the terrible effects of war on people at home -- lost jobs, libraries, fire companies, and teachers -- and even worse effects on the people of Iraq and on our G.I.s. Literature was handed out with facts about the terrible results and the absurdity of war.
Demonstrators chanted: What is the cost of War? How Many? and How Much? And answered Too Many, too Many . . . and Too Much, too Much.
Good for all the groups who participated, good for all the individuals. But don't think for a moment that we forget who was silent. That's an NYC action. Where the bulk of Little Media is based. As Elaine pointed out Friday, Little Media wasn't realyl concerned with the Iraq War (forget the kiss ass article you saw at Al Jazeera). As we noted at Third in "Editorial: Barack is killing the left," Saturday morning, NYC Indymedia had nothing on their home page about the demonstration, WBAI didn't have it on the home page or on their monthly calendar. Praise for the Granny Peace Brigade and others who participated but grasp that if the word had gotten out, the number present would have been higher. But 'leaders' weren't interested. Chicago saw action on Saturday. Matt Muchowski (Gapers Block) explains, " On March 17, 2010 over a thousand people rallied at Federal Plaza and marched on Michigan Ave. It came as President Obama is intensifying the war in Afghanistan. The protesters seemed to be mocking Mayor Daley's challenge, 'Where are the anti-war people? They disappeared! They stopped marching!' No, we never did stop marching, even as Daley has continued to antagonize us." CBS reports Chicago activists dyed the Chicago River red and stated, "Most college students can now say that more than one quarter of their lives have been lived while the U.S. has been at war." Melissa Allison (Seattle Times) reports that they gathered "near Westlake Center . . . before marching for an hour through downtown streets." While, according to AP, the people of Raleigh were apathetic as indicated by the lethargic Chris Skidmore who "sipped a drink on the artificial lawn" and stated, "Honestly, with everything that's going on in my personal life, it slipped my mind." AP notes that Albuquerque saw over 100 (local estimates are 120) gathered to protest the continued wars on Saturday. Jake Begun (Badger Herald) reports that Madison, Wisconsin saw 200 gather Saturday for rally and he notes, "Iraq Veterans Against the War Madison Chapter President Todd Dennis said his aim in attending the day's events was to show solidarity with the various groups present and his own friends who have served. The war itself, and veterans' services are lacking, he said. By raising awareness through actions like Saturday's rally and march the issues facing those who fight the country's wars can be better represented." Charles Purnell (Daily Titan) reported on the Los Angeles action and noted Tamara Khoury "was a lead organizer and stage manager at the anti-war protest and peace march. Khoury is also a member of Act Now to Stop War and Racism (A.N.S.W.E.R.), the organization that put on the event. Formed September 14, 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, A.N.S.W.E.R. has grown to encompass branches in nearly every major city across the country and has organized some of the largest demonstrations in recent years, including the annual March 20 multi-city marches."
On the protests, Justin Raimondo (Antiwar.com) offers:
Even among those who attended the protests, there were some whose opposition to this administration's foreign policy is squishy at best. The same AP article cites one Shirley Allan of Silver Spring, Md., who "carried a sign that read, "President Obama We love you but we need to tell you! Your hands are getting bloody!! Stop it now."
Ms. Allan's sign says more about her than it does about the issue she purports to address. To confess to loving a political leader whose hands are even a little bit bloody is quite a revealing statement to make, and it just about sums up why the crowd was smaller than on previous occasions. The hate-Bush crowd has quickly morphed into the love-Obama cult of personality, and the so-called progressives have deserted the antiwar movement in droves. Our multiple wars just aren't an issue inside the Democratic party.
On the non-Marxist left, the triumph of the Obama cult is complete. Only the old-fashioned Leninists, such as the main organizers of the ANSWER rallies, have come out in visible opposition to Obama's wars. Even the Marxist left, however, is not immune to Obama-mania: the other major antiwar coalition, United for Peace and Justice, led by veterans of the old Communist Party, USA, issued a euphoric statement upon Obama's election and has been essentially moribund as an active antiwar organization ever since.
It was in this kind of political atmosphere, then – one of near complete political isolation – that rally attendees heard Cindy Sheehan wonder whether "the honeymoon was over with that war criminal in the White House." Sheehan's remark was met, according to AP, with merely "moderate applause." Ms. Allan was not among the applauders:
Many in the media spent the weekend ignoring the anniversary. Bob Schieffer (Face The Nation, CBS News -- link has text and video) didn't, he commented on the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War:Washington has always been a one-story town. And for the last few weeks -- months, really -- the story has been health care reform. It's all we've been talking about. Which is probably one reason a rather important anniversary passed almost without notice: March 19. Ring a bell? Probably not. But March 19 was the seventh anniversary of the Iraq invasion, which began our longest war.
Turning to Iraq where the counting never stops. March 7th, Iraqis completed their voting in Parliamentary elections. Today is March 21st and the votes are still being counted. Rania El Gamal and Khalid al-Ansary (Reuters) report that 95% of the votes have been counted and that the results of the 100% count (unofficial count) would not be publicly revealed until Friday; however, Ayad Allawi's political party is at the top of the seesaw currently. One minute the unofficial count has Allawi in the lead and then, as more votes are counted, the lead switches to Nouri al-Maliki's political party. Then it switches again. At this rate, if the official count is anything like the current count, either political party could become the ruling party depending upon which one is able to enter a power-sharing coalition soonest. Sunday Martin Chulov (Guardian) reported, "Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has invoked the spectre of renewed violence if there is no recount of all ballots cast in the general election as its chaotic aftermath appears to increasingly threaten his grip on power." When in doubt, Nouri always screams violence is coming. Of course, when it actually comes, he's forever caught by surprise. Margaret Coker (Wall St. Journal) reports, "Iraq's electoral commission on Sunday brushed aside increased pressure from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other politicians demanding a recount in the close parliamentary race that could unseat the incumbent leader and other officials who have dominated Iraq's transition to democracy." If you're thinking of Nouri and how he loves to scream violence to get his way, you may be aware of step two: He stages protests. Hannah Allam and Mohammed Al Dulaimy (McClatchy's Miami Herald) report that already Nouri's supporters have taken to the streets in Najaf to 'protest.' The two reporters quote political analyst Haider al-Musawi stating, "The situation may well deteriorate into a state not unlike what happened in Iran. This would be catastrophic for the political process. Iraqis have started to believe that their votes could make a difference. If they see their votes turned around, God only knows where that would lead us -- maybe to violence once again."
Ned Parker and Caesar Ahmed (Los Angeles Times) also sought out an analyst, "Kenneth Katzman, an analyst on Iraq for the Congressional Research Service, warned Sunday that Maliki could be building the foundations for a non-democratic regime. 'Especially with this language of defending the constitution, setting themselves up as the protectors of the constitution, that is how authoritarian parties usually justify what they do,' Katzman said. 'It's ominous'." Meanwhile another voice joins Nouri's. Timothy Williams and Zaid Thaker (New York Times) explain Jalal Talabani, the president of Iraq, has joined in the cries for recounts -- but then, as he did in July's elections, he's sunk his own political party again and is demanding recounts to shift the focus away from his lousy leadership. Talabani is a Kurd. He got himself into trouble not with charges of corruption (though those exist) but by failing to understand his own people. He called a Kurdish land in Iraq "a dream" that would never come true. When he made that statement, he destroyed his own power-base and his party. The Ahrar Party is also calling for a recount and they issued this statement on Friday:
Iraq election results being fixed - call for election recount
The leader of the Ahrar Freedom Party in Iraq today called for a nationwide recount of the results in the recent General Election held on 7 March.
Ayad Jamal Aldin said, "We have sound evidence of nationwide corruption in the election results presently being declared across Iraq. A large number of smaller parties are being deliberately squeezed out of the election result. Thousands of votes are being stolen and transferred to the larger parties, within the Malaki, Allawi and Hakim camps.
"Our Ahrar Party was polling fourth in a large number of governorates and
regions across Iraq and we have evidence that our, and other parties', votes are being excluded and not declared in the results so far.
"We have no confidence in the fairness and honesty of the election counting process. We call for international observers, including the United Nations and
US Vice President Joe Biden to intervene and support an independently
monitored recount of all the votes cast on 7th March. The people of Iraq are
being cheated out of a fair election result. No one has anything to fear from
a fairly conducted recount but if the present election results are allowed to
go unchallenged, Iraq will descend again into conflict rather than benefiting
from a free and fair electoral process."
For further information, contact:
Ahrar Media Bureau Tel: +964 (0)790 157 4478 / +964 (0)790 157 4479 / +964 (0)771 275 2942 firstname.lastname@example.com
About Ayad Jamal Aldin:
Ayad Jamal Aldin is a cleric, best known for his consistent campaigning for a
new, secular Iraq. He first rose to prominence at the Nasiriyah conference in March 2003, shortly before the fall of Saddam, where he called for a state free
of religion, the turban and other theological symbols. In 2005, he was elected
as one of the 25 MPs on the Iraqi National List, but withdrew in 2009 after becoming disenchanted with Iyad Allawi's overtures to Iran. He wants complete independence from Iranian interference in Iraq. He now leads the Ahrar party
for the 2010 election to the Council of Representatives, to clean up corruption
and create a strong, secure and liberated Iraq for the future.
Li Laifang (Xinhua) reminds, "Analysts believe the process of forming a new government
will be tough with much bargaining among blocs and may even take months. The formation of the current government took four months after the December 2005 election." What if the prime minister is neither Allawi nor al-Maliki? It's more than possible. Not only is Ahmed Chalabi said to have arranged for himself to be installed should State of Law prevail in the elections but it's also true that Nouri is a divisive figure. Sami Moubayed (Asia Times) looks at those rumored to be waiting in the wings:If neither Maliki nor Allawi makes it to the premiership, Iraqis will need to search for a prime minister who is acceptable to both parties. Two names that originally surfaced were Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Adel Abdul Mehdi, both members of the Iran-backed Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which is currently placed third in the poll and is likely to win 68 seats. Jaafari was immediately written off by Sunnis, since he failed to bring security to Iraq during his 2005-2006 tenure as prime minister. He was unable to control civil strife after terrorists struck at a holy Shi'ite shrine in February 2006, three months before he was replaced by Maliki. Abdul Mehdi, although acceptable to Iran, is also an unconvincing candidate due, mainly due to objections to him from within the INA. Mehdi's greatest opponents are his own allies, men like Jaafari who have their own eyes on the premiership, or Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who has always seen Mehdi as an Iranian stooge. One compromise candidate is Jaafar al-Sadr, a member of the State of Law Coalition who has excellent relations with both his cousin, Muqtada al-Sadr, and the prime minister. Muqtada has made it clear that he will not support Maliki gaining a second term, saying: "During his years in power, Maliki worked for his own personal benefit, not for the people of Iraq." The count is still preliminary. It is also partial. 95% of the preliminary count is known. Friday, 100% of the vote is supposed to be known. Whether a recount will take place or not is currently up in the air with the election body stating that they will only review charges of fraud and not conduct a recount. That may change as Nouri ramps up the rhetoric. But these are not official results, remember. Turning to official (in that it was reported) violence today . . .
Reuters notes a Baghdad roadside bombing which injured six people and a Kirkuk car bombing which wounded one police officer.
Reuters notes a Baghdad shooting which claimed the lives of 2 police officers, a Baghdad shooting which claimed the lives of 2 Sadr City council members and left one person injured and, dropping back to Sunday, a Baghdad shooting which attacked "the convoy of Muaid al-Lami, the chief of the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate, and wounded his driver "
The Iraqi wounded get little attention. Do the US wounded get that much more? Not according to US House Rep Bob Filner who appeared this morning on Connect the Dots with Lila Garrett (KPFK) and explained that the government is hiding the number of US wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.
US House Rep Bob Filner: [. . .] in understanding this war, you have to understand the costs both in the material costs and the human costs. Our official statistics for Iraq and Afghanistan is that over 5,000 have been killed, almost 40,000 injured. Now take that 40,000. Compare that with almost a million veterans of this war who have already come to the Veterans Administration hospital seeking care for injuries and conditions suffered in the war. I mean, compare a million versus 40,000. I mean, that's not just a rounding error, that's a deliberate attempt to mislead us on the nature of the war and its cost. And out of that million who have come to the VA, several hundred thousand who have brain injury, several hundred thousand have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and they were not diagnosed before they left the battlefield. And that's a purposeful ommission. If we don't evaluate them, then we don't know. And by the way, Lila, even earlier in the war when they were evaluating people, they deliberately changed the diagnosis from PTSD to what's called Personality Disorder. And a Personality Disorder means that you had this before you entered the armed services and therefore we didn't give it to you and, in fact, we don't even have to take care of you. Now that's a terrible crime perpetrated on these young men and women who have volunteered for service. When they get mental injuries, they're not recognized.
US House Rep Bob Filner is the Chair of the House Veterans Committee. In other news, we'll note this from Debra Sweet's "Two Days Into the 8th Year of the Iraq War: What do we Do Next?" (World Can't Wait):
What are you being asked to give money towards, in this Anti-War Offensive fundraising drive? We have a plan to stop the war - but you are needed.The We Are Not Your Soldiers tour is getting ready to hit schools in Ohio this weekend, with more requests coming in from Seattle, Massachusetts and Connecticut. This tour brings Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to the schools to talk to students about the on-the-ground reality of the wars and the need for students to stop military recruiters.
We want recruiters out now and we want to turn schools into hot spots of resistance, creating a situation where military recruiters are met with daily protest by the students themselves in all areas where they recruit. There is great need and a demand for this from teachers, parents and students. Watch some of the previous presentations:
Coming up soon, March 29th and March 30, Liz, a World Can't Wait activist, and Anthony Wagner, an Iraq War veteran, will be traveling from Chicago to Cleveland, Ohio, where they have been asked by teachers to reach out to 2 schools and at least 200 students. Then, on March 31, they have been asked to travel to Columbus, Ohio to speak in multiple classes to 110 students!
David Bacon's latest book is Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press) which won the CLR James Award. Bacon can be heard on KPFA's The Morning Show (over the airwaves in the Bay Area, streaming online) each Wednesday morning (begins airing at 7:00 am PST). We'll close with this from Bacon's "MARCHING FOR CALIFORNIA'S FUTURE THROUGH TODAY'S DESOLATION" (New American Media):As the March for California's Future heads up the San Joaquin Valley towards Sacramento, participants are coming up hard against the reality of the economic crisis in rural California. The march began in Bakersfield, the day after widespread protests swept through the state's schools and universities on March 4. It is a protest against the impact of state budget cuts on education and social services, and marchers are finding that Valley communities are among those that feel their effects most strongly. "Watsonville has a 27% unemployment rate," says Jenn Laskin, a teacher at Renaissance Continuation High School there. "It's the strawberry capital of the world, and strawberries are a luxury. In a recession, people stop buying them, so workers no longer have a job in the fields. I have many students who have both parents out of work, who grow food in our school garden for their families." But in the Central Valley, she thinks, things seem worse. "The towns we've been passing through feel a lot more desolate," Laskin explains. Those include the small farm worker communities of Shafter, McFarland, Delano, Pixley and Tulare. "I see a lot of fields with nothing planted at all. I was in a Mexican restaurant in Pixley and there was not a Mexican in sight. The problems I see in Watsonville might even be sharper here. I see more need here, and I'm guessing probably fewer services." She's not far off. The official unemployment rate in December in Kern County was 16%. Since Bakersfield, a major urban area, has a lower rate, towns like Shafter and McFarland have even more jobless. Crossing into Kings and Tulare Counties, unemployment jumps to over 17% in each.
al jazeera
inside iraq
jasim al-azzawi
the kpfa evening newsdavid rosenberg
reutersrania el gamalkhalid al-ansarythe guardianmartin chulovthe wall street journalmargaret cokermcclatchy newspapershannah allammohammed al dulaimythe los angeles timesned parkercaesar ahmed
joan wileedith cresmergranny peace brigade
the world cant waitdebra sweet
cbs newsface the nationbob schieffer
the washington postkatherine shaverthe seattle timesmelissa allisonindybay mediajonathan nackthe badger heraldjake begunthe daily titancharles purnell
david bacon


text:
As global economic and environmental struggles continue to make headlines, perhaps the world should look toward Costa Rica for answers. In the last 25 years, my home country has tripled its GDP while doubling the size of its forests; it has also pledged to become the world's first carbon-neutral nation by 2021. These unique and wonderful achievements reveal that shifting our global patterns of consumption and production into a greener economy is not only possible, but necessary.
In 1996 Costa Rica created its Payment for Environmental Services program partially in response to deforestation pressures. The program was established to compensate landowners for protecting the ecosystems that supply fresh water, absorb carbon and provide other services for people. At the time, it took those of us working in the Ministry of Environment many years to truly understand the economics of conservation, but as Costa Rica's environment and energy minister, I led this innovative program with high expectations.
More than 15 years later, this program benefits 8,000 landowners in a territory covering 10 percent of the country, all outside national parks. The payment averages $78 per hectare per year, with most compensation focusing on carbon and water services.
Since 2005, CI's Global Conservation Fund (GCF) has supported Costa Rica in engaging key landowners in the Osa Peninsula to enter into long-term payment for ecosystem services (PES) agreements. The region contains one of the best examples of lowland tropical rainforest remaining in Central America, featuring a range of distinct tropical ecosystems that are home to 50 percent of all species found in Costa Rica, including jaguars, harpy eagles, peccaries and giant anteaters. Support from CI and many others has helped achieve unprecedented conservation objectives here, including halting the loss of tropical forest, restoring degraded forest and establishing innovative economic instruments to value biodiversity.
Building on the success of this program, GCF is a funding partner in an innovative new fund for Costa Rica that will support biodiversity services under a PES scheme targeting private landholders in valuable conservation areas. The Trust for the Sustainable Biodiversity (TSB) Fund is also financed by the German Development Bank (KfW) and the Global Environment Facility. Currently totaling $17 million, it is expected to reach $20 million by the end of 2012.
This new fund will complement Costa Rica's existing PES program, compensating private landowners for conserving forests not currently included in protected areas. This is the first conservation fund in the world designed to provide PES specifically for biodiversity services such as pollination, tourism and resources for future medicines.
As someone who has worked on these issues for many years, I'm proud of the long-term engagement between CI and the Costa Rican government, and hope this success will be replicated throughout the tropics.
In less than three months, heads of state and other world leaders will gather in Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (also known as Rio+20). As participants discuss ways to eradicate poverty while conserving natural resources, the TSB Fund should serve as an innovative example proving that development and conservation can go hand in hand.
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez is the vice president of international policy in CI's Center for Conservation and Government. He was formerly the environment and energy minister for Costa Rica.


text:
Sticky-fingered thieves steal sap out of maple trees in Maine, damaging valuable trees
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Sticky-fingered thieves are stealing sap right out of Maine's maple trees.
Maine Forest Ranger Thomas Liba says as far as he can tell, the culprits are taking the sap home and boiling it down to make syrup for personal use. But they're damaging valuable maple trees and dissing landowners who haven't given them permission to be on their property.
Liba says he's seen more sap theft reports in recent years. Illegal taps were even found in a city-owned cemetery in Calais recently.
The best maple trees are high value. They can be used for furniture or cabinet veneers or taken to a sawmill. But when the trees are damaged, they're only suitable for less profitable uses.


text:
Whether you're in the back seat of a car trying to watch a YouTube video, or on your bed streaming the radio, it's safe to say we could all use some help pumping up our audio at one time or another. You know, something quick that's short of actually docking your handset into a speaker.
That's where the Eco-amp comes in. Designed and manufactured in Los Angeles by Eco-made, the Eco-amp, using the company's O.G. 2.0 pattern, is a small audio amplifier for the iPhone 4/4S and costs about $10 for a pack of two. While it's not meant to be the most technologically advanced mobile speaker available, it'll definitely attract attention with its interesting design.
Admittedly, the Eco-amp's minimalist but quirky design is what drew my attention. According to Eco-made, it's entirely made from "post-consumer recycled fibers." For the most part though, it's paper.
The Eco-amp ships completely flat, and it looks like a mushroom with a long stem. A graphic pattern covers both sides, with tabs and small instructional text labeled in corresponding places.
When fully assembled, the Eco-amp will end up looking like a cardboard phonograph (or should I say, iPhonograph, har har!) for your handset. There is a hole for your left bottom speaker, and the amplifier goes over your right speaker. A larger circular hole is left on top so you can still access your iPhone's home button.
The Eco-amp comes with prefolds, so you won't have to create the initial creases. Though there are small instructions on the Eco-amp itself (like "fold over to align the squares," "tab A," and "fold up to align arrows"), putting it together using just these instructions wasn't very intuitive.
As a personal experiment, I tried putting it together based solely on the arrows and folds of the Eco-amp and ended up assembling it inside out. The instructions on the package were much more helpful, and in general, it takes about a minute to put together.


text:
Nov 21, 2012
PPL Electric Utilities will change its generation service charge Dec. 1 based on the latest costs to supply service to customers who do not choose an alternative supplier in the competitive power market.
The utility's generation and transmission rates combined make up the "price to compare" for the purposes of shopping among alternative suppliers. The price to compare will decrease slightly for residential and small commercial customers on the utility's default supply service.
For residential customers, the new price to compare will be 7.544 cents per kilowatt-hour, down from 7.907 cents per kilowatt-hour currently.
The components of the price to compare make up about two-thirds of the typical residential monthly bill for non-shopping customers. The price to compare does not include the distribution charges on a customer's bill, which apply to all customers and cover the company's costs to deliver power and provide customer service.
For small business customers, the new price to compare will be 10.206 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared with 10.346 cents per kilowatt-hour currently. A full list of PPL Electric Utilities' new rates for all rate classes can be found at www.pplelectric.com/choice.
While usage is higher in the winter and summer months, this has been offset by falling energy prices, resulting in a small decrease to the price to compare for the December 2012 through February 2013 period.
PPL Electric Utilities adjusts its generation rates and prices to compare for residential and small business customers every three months to reflect the cost of power purchases and adjustments based on customer use in the prior period. The generation rate for large industrial customers is based on hourly market prices. The company's generation rates change March 1, June 1, Sept. 1 and Dec. 1 each year, similar to other utilities in Pennsylvania.
PPL Electric Utilities does not receive any profit on the generation portion of customers' bills. It merely passes along the cost of that supply to customers without markup. PPL Electric Utilities' primary focus is on electric delivery, billing and customer service.
PPL Electric Utilities encourages its customers to seek opportunities to save on power supply costs by shopping for deals with alternative suppliers. A list of state-licensed suppliers and their offer prices are available from the PUC's website, www.PAPowerSwitch.com. About 40 suppliers are currently serving the residential market in PPL Electric Utilities' service area.
More than 605,000 PPL Electric Utilities customers, or 43 percent of all customers, have already shopped and obtain their power from other suppliers. More than 81 percent of the total amount of energy delivered by PPL Electric Utilities comes from alternative suppliers, including almost all power used by large commercial and industrial customers.
PPL Electric Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), provides electric delivery services to about 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania and consistently ranks among the best companies for customer service in the United States. More information is available at www.pplelectric.com.
Subscribe to receive timely alerts about company news, financial performance, SEC filings and upcoming events.


text: Ryan Kelly graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1998, and he now works on the school's teaching staff. He worked with his former teacher Peter Gross on the DC/Vertigo comics 'Lucifer' and 'The Books of Magic'. He has inked 'American Virgin' and pencilled AiT/PlanetLAR's 'Giant Robot Warriors' with Stuart Moore. He has worked with Brian Wood on the comic book series 'Local' for Oni Press. He is also an illustrator for Time Magazine and Rolling Stone.


text:
Should Addison and Jake fans be worried?
GCB alum Marisol Nichols has landed a guest-starring role on Private Practice, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.
Exclusive Private Practice First Look: Alfre Woodard, Richard Roundtree come to town!
Details on her role are being kept under wraps, but Nichols will appear in the Jake-centric episode, "The World According to Jake." Could this mean she's coming between Jake (Benjamin Bratt) and Addison (Kate Walsh)? You'll have to tune in to the episode, slated for mid-November, to find out!
Nichols, whose credits also include The Gates, 24 and Cold Case, portrayed single housewife Heather Cruz on GCB.
Private Practice airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on ABC.


text:
Apple Help
Macworld's Apple Help forum is the place to find help (and give it) about Apple's iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Mac Pro, Mac mini and other hardware. Or just discuss the latest Apple gear and goings on in Cupertino. Find out how to get what you want from iOS and OS X – including iOS 8 and Yosemite. Our experts will be delighted to help with any Mac or iOS problems that you're having.


text:
INXS has X'd out its time together.
The Aussie band is calling it quits after 35 years, having weathered highs that included chart-topping hits like "Need You Tonight," as well as a rock-bottom low brought on by the untimely death of frontman Michael Hutchence in 1997.
Per Perth Now, drummer Jon Farriss broke the news Sunday night during a show in Perth, telling the audience, "I'm getting teary."
U.S. & World
Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez break up
Meanwhile, current frontman Ciaran Gribbin reportedly took to Facebook Sunday and asked fans to "please try and be patient as the band plan to release a full statement on the subject ASAP." That Facebook post appears to have been deleted.
Under Hutchence's watch, the band scored a string of '80s hits including "New Sensation" and "Devil Inside."
But the group was rocked by tragedy when, in 1997, Hutchence was found dead in a hotel room in Sydney hanging from a door with a leather belt around his neck.
Bye-O, LMFAO! Party rockers taking a timeout
The cause of death has remained a grisly fixation among fans, with speculation that he died while attempting auto-erotic asphyxiation. A coroner, however, officially ruled his death as suicide caused by depression.
The group, which formed in Sydney in 1977, has since collaborated with a bevy of erstwhile frontmen, including Terence Trent D'Arby.
In 2005, they were featured in the CBS reality show Rock Star: INXS as they searched for a new frontman--a gig that eventually went to Canadian musician J.D. Fortune.


text:
Jake Peavy took another step toward a Major League comeback from 2010 season-ending experimental surgery to reattach the tendon that anchors the latissimus dorsi muscle to the rear of the shoulder by throwing 59 pitches over four innings in a simulated Minor League intrasquad game at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., on Sunday.
Next up for Peavy is a Friday start for Double-A Birmingham at Montgomery, Ala., where he hopes to work five innings and throw 75 pitches.
… Peavy worked the first inning out of a full windup and the next three from the stretch. He worked primarily on fastball command.
"Pitching out of the stretch is where you make your biggest pitches," Peavy said. "You want to feel comfortable in the stretch.
"There are a lot of young [Minor League] guys swinging, and I could get a lot of swings and misses. But pitching is about fastball command, and that's where it starts. Certainly, I could tell I started fatiguing in the fourth. But I did feel better than I did on Tuesday."