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By Karl Terry
He can't win the big game.
That's the big knock on Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.
That argument is hogwash and has nothing to do with Manning's greatness or his team's chances today in the Super Bowl.
Another great quarterback wore the same tag around his neck — even longer than Manning has. Fortunately for John Elway, he finally "won the big one" and erased that last doubt about his greatness as a quarterback and athlete. My prediction and hope is that Manning will do the same thing today.
Yeah, I've been a Bronco fan since the days of the Orange Crush. With players like Lyle Alzado and Randy Gradishar it was fairly easy to convert from my leanings toward Dallas since birth. That was real football — sometimes real dirty football.
When Elway came along in 1983 — ironically after not wanting to play for the Colts — we all figured sooner or later he was going to be the last piece to the puzzle in getting a Super Bowl victory. We just didn't know it was going to be 15 years and two big heartbreaks before we finally completed that jigsaw puzzle.
We could get some of the pieces in place and others would let us down. Retirements, injuries or salary caps kept getting in the way. Other things that got in the way were really good Giants and 49ers teams led by really great quarterbacks like Phil Simms and Joe Montana. We won't talk too much about that 1988 embarrassment against Washington. They had neither a great team or great leaders. They were just the recipients of a huge second quarter gift from the Bronco defense, which was no longer the Orange Crush.
Both Elway and Manning were expected from birth to be great quarterbacks and in the end that will probably prove to be a bigger monkey on their backs than not winning the big game. Families, coaches, teammates and fans all expected them to deliver great things every play. Elway did and Manning still is delivering great things.
As good as any athlete in a team sport is, though, they can't deliver it all on their own.
Watching Manning run his no-huddle earlier in the season, he was so smooth and so cool it didn't seem like he could be beat — like Elway looked sometimes. I know that just the aura of confidence surrounding the two quarterbacks itself is at least a one-touchdown advantage.
But as Elway and legions of Bronco fans found out, that advantage and confidence is worthless in the Super Bowl unless all the pieces show up for that big game. The Super Bowl was the scene of Bronco fans' most humiliating defeats as well as their greatest memories.
When Elway and the Broncos finally shook the monkey off their backs in 1998, in a game where they were the underdog, it was the running of Terrell Davis that propelled them to the win. But it was also the leadership and experience of Elway that held the pieces together long enough to snatch the win from Brett Farve and the Packers.
The play of the game was Elway's "helicopter," when he dove for a critical first down and his 37-year-old legs spun like the blades of a helicopter after a mid-air hit.
I cried for joy for the aging quarterback because I knew right then he wasn't going to let it slip away this time.
Manning has that same leadership ability and experience. If his team steps up enough to get close to the brass ring, he will be there with the play that will make the difference.
Karl Terry is managing editor of the Portales News-Tribune. Contact him at 356-4481, ext. 33 or e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Man dies from injuries after chasing burglary suspects
H o a r d 's wife,
""He saw them and got on the ATV and went after them,""
Hoard was in rehab at
According to his w i fe, Ho a rd l e ave s behind three children, four stepchildren, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
S a n B e r n a rd i n o County Sheriff 's Sgt.
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subset: commoncrawl


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The rain came down hard and the water ran down the road and flooded our basement and went inside Country Side Auto's Building. It washed away the side of the road and may be taking out the new bridge they built when we had the last major flood that took 5 months to repair
Flooding on Case Road in Bainbridge
By: SheilaSmithSubscribe Channel: Weather Location: Bainbridge, NY
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Staten Island native James P. Mazella, 52, of South Beach, a truck driver, died Thursday in the Staten Island University Hospital, Prince's Bay.
Born in Dongan Hills, he graduated from New Dorp High School and later settled in South Beach.
He worked as a truck diver for over 30 years and for J. Scaramella LTD., for the past few years.
Mr. Mazella was a member of Local 282.
In his leisure time, he enjoyed taking trips to Disney World and Atlantic City, and spending time with his nieces and nephews.
He is survived by sister; Laura Xhelili.
</obittag>The funeral will be Monday from the A. Azzara Funeral Home, South Beach, with a mass at 11:30 a.m. in Holy Rosary Church, South Beach. Burial will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery, Grasmere.


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Bluegrass Festival brings music, music lovers to Olalla
Hundreds of music fanciers gathered on a baseball diamond on Saturday to tap their toes, eat pie and enjoy the sunshine for the 18th annual Olalla Bluegrass Festival.
The event, held at the South Kitsap Little League Field on Olalla Valley Road features crafts, fun family events and food — in particular the berry pie auction, for which South Kitsap Commissioner Charlotte Garrido turned in this year's winning bid.
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Parting Schotts
Union goalie Grosenick feeling better, ready to play (with 2 videos)
Union goalie Troy Grosenick is ready to go should he get the call to start Friday against Dartmouth in Game 1 of the best-of-three ECAC Hockey tournament quarterfinals at Messa Rink.
The Dutchmen held a press conference Tuesday at Messa, and Grosenick discussed his status. The junior netminder suffered a lower-body injury midway through the third period of the March 1 game against St. Lawrence. He left the game, a Union 5-1 win, and was on the bench the next night when Niskayuna native Colin Stevens shut out Clarkson, 4-0.
"I'm feel back to 100 percent," Grosenick said. "It's a matter of getting back to practice and battling hard, and preparing for this weekend."
Having the first-round bye gave Grosenick a chance to rest his injury.
"I think it's huge for everybody on the team," Grosenick said. "Obviously, we're a little bit banged up at the end of the season, just like everybody else. It's really good, even if you don't have a serious injury, to have a little extra time to recuperate and get some rest. Hopefully, that little bit of extra rest will help us the rest of the way through."
Union coach Rick Bennett has been happy with the way Grosenick and Stevens have been practicing. However, Bennett will wait until Friday to name his starter.
"Both goaltenders look very good in practice," Bennett said. "It's been a very nice balance there."
I'll examine the relations ship between Grosenick and Stevens in Wednesday's print edition and our webpage.
I do have two videos.
To watch the press conference, click here.
To watch the press conference, click here.


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There is a new Curl Burke masters swim group starting September 15th at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda. I need to get confirmation, but I believe the swim times will be:
5:45 - 7:00 am Tues and Thurs
6:00 - 7:30 pm Mon, Fri and Sun
8:00 - 9:15 pm Wed
Georgetown Prep has a new aquatics center that is supposed to be very nice and is located on Rockville Pike (Route 355) just north of Grosvenor Metro.
Many D.C. Tri club members swim with Curl Burke at Amer. Univ. and through the years Curl Burke has been very interested in attracting and accommodating triathletes. For example, they are thinking of offering a clinic series during the Sunday workout.
I believe the quarterly cost will be very reasonable, but I want to get confirmation about that as well. Hopefully, an announcement will be made mid-week and I can confirm the price and swim times then.
Enjoy the fabulous training weather!
Awesome! I was just about to bump the old post and find out what the deal was.
Good hours and a new pool. Who's going to be running the show?
Thanks for the info Beth!
I don't which coaches from Curl Burke are going to be running the masters program. I had hoped to get an official announcement about the program yesterday, but still waiting. I'll pass along any additional information as I receive it.
This would be great. It looks like the Navy Hospital pool will close for good next month and the new gym is not planned to open until 2011. So... I need to find a new place to swim.
I've received word that this masters group is definitely starting Monday evening, September 14th around 6:00. The exact times have not been set. For those who are interested, but are unfamiliar with the layout of Georgetown Prep, I can send you a map. Just e-mail me at email@example.com. I can also e-mail you when the final schedule is set. They did confirm that the group will swim Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings, and Tues and Thurs mornings. They are just trying to nail down the exact swim times.
The cost will be $75 a month with no initiation fee and no team dues. Everyone will need to be a member of the US Masters Swim program. I also believe there will be some exchange privileges with the Curl Burke AU program.
Hmm ... did not think that anyone would call my bluff but apparently somebody has :)
Now is as good a time as any to learn how to swim. I will come and I will like it if it kills me. I will now use my food allowance for the privilege of drinking water through my nose.
I'm in.
Wow, we will be graced with the presence of Royalty?! Now I'm definitely in. Perhaps this will be the end of vertical swimming (as we know it).
This could be fun if half the pool is taken up with triathletes.
Tuan, so sorry to hear about your accident. Recover quickly, rest up and give it another go.
Here is the current practice schedule for the new masters group at Georgetown Prep. The group is up and running, so drop by. The cost is $75 a month. If you need additional information, e-mail me at email@example.com.
Mondays 6 - 7:30 pm...4 lanes
Tuesdays 5:30 - 7 am ...6 lanes
Wednesdays 8 - 9:15 pm...4 lanes
Thursdays 5:30 - 7 am...6 lanes
Fridays 6 - 7:30 pm and 7:30 - 9 pm...3 lanes
Saturdays No Workout
Sundays 5:45 - 7:15 pm...4 lanes
Congratulations to everyone who finished Nations and Reston.


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Baltimore City detectives are investigating a fatal shooting in the western part of the city Wednesday night.
Officers were called to the 3800 block of Old Frederick Road around 11 p.m., where they found a 19-year-old man who had been shot several times in the upper body.
The man was taken to Shock Trauma, where he died. The victim hasn't been identified yet.
Detectives are investigating, but so far, they have no suspects or motive in the case. Anyone who may have information should call homicide detectives at 410-396-2100.


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ANN ARBOR -- Improving the efficiency and safety of truck transportation while reducing its environmental damage is the focus of an international conference next week at the University of Michigan.
The school's Transportation Research Institute is hosting the "Building the Policy Options Roadmap" conference Tuesday and Wednesday.
The school says "technical experts and public policy officials from around the world will lay out practical and workable options for ensuring economically viable and socially responsive U.S. commercial truck transportation."
Sponsors include the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Con-way Freight, and American Trucking Association.


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Acta Cryst. (2013). E69, o1530 [ doi:10.1107/S160053681302446X ]
Abstract: In the title compound, C19H25Cl2NOSi, the NH group and the carbonyl O atom of the amide fragment are involved in an intermolecular N-HO hydrogen bond forming chains of molecules. The plane of the benzene ring forms a dihedral angle of 50.5 (2)° with respect to the silolane ring and an angle of 49.74 (2)° with the cyclopentyl moiety.
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CHERRY HILL EAST — The Millville High School girls basketball team qualified for the playoffs for the first time in six years, but it was a short stay in the Second Season.
Top-seed Cherry Hill East eliminated the No. 16 Thunderbolts with a 77-27 victory on Monday in an NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV first-round game.
Instead of focusing on the result, though, the Bolts chose to highlight the achievement of just reaching the postseason after enduring a two-win season last year and ending a 55-game losing streak two years ago.
"It was great to be in the playoffs, to make it here and just have a chance," said Bolts sophomore Ashli Weems, whose team finished the year with a 10-13 mark. "This was the biggest game for us in years. It was a lot of fun to be a part of it all."
It was fun for the Bolts for the first eight minutes. The Cougars, who lost their first game of the season by a point to Camden Catholic over the weekend, were ice cold from the opening tip and led 8-4 at the end of the first quarter.
Quickly recovering from a 3-for-17 shooting performance, the Cougars outscored the Bolts, 26-7, in the second quarter to open a 34-11 lead at the half. Millville played like playoff rookies, committing 11 turnovers in the frame, missing layups and losing the battle on the boards in the second quarter.


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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Getting a contract approved in Jefferson County can take weeks, if not months, and some have blamed the court appointed receiver over the county's HR department.
The lack of a contract almost caused the Meals on Wheels program in Jefferson County to cease operations.
Receiver Ronald Sims and his staff now review all contracts and have requested additional information on independent contractors from county department heads before approving agreements.
But, Sims said he should not be blamed; if there are delays it's only because he's checking to see if "merit system work is being improperly contracted out to independent contractors," and that is taking more time than expected, he said.
"The overall effort to improve the county's compliance in this area continues to prove more difficult and time-consuming than the receiver initially anticipated," he wrote in his monthly report to a federal court judge.
County Manager Tony Petelos acknowledged that nearly two dozen contracts have been slowed as a result of the review process.
But, other reasons, not related to HR, could be responsible for the delay in contracts getting to the County Commission.
For example, contracts must also go to the Personnel Board of Jefferson County (PBJC), which meets once a month.
If the board doesn't take up the matter during the current month, county officials have to wait another 30 days for contract approval.
If the board's staff has questions that could add even more time to the process.
It's unclear whether anyone has suggested that the personnel board meet between its monthly meetings to consider the Jefferson County contracts to help speed up the process.
Efforts to reach Lorren Oliver, director of the personnel board, for comment were unsuccessful.
A recent example, according to some, is the dispute the county had with the Meals on Wheels program. Officials with the program said they had been operating without a contract since October and had not been paid since December.
The organization was finally paid this month, but only after questions were raised over whether the contract was reviewed in a timely manner by the human resources department; personnel board and the county's law department.
Another point being raised is whether Sims, with his requirement that department heads complete an "Independent Contractor Submission Form" is taking over duties that should be done by the personnel board under state law.
The personnel board already has a Rule 11.4 which governs "the use of independent contractors."


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MAHWAH — A truck driver was arrested yesterday morning after police found a pair of guns loaded with hollow point bullets in his cab, authorities said.
Evan Walsh, 32, of Kasson, Minn. was driving his 1999 Kenworth tractor-trailer on Route 287 when Mahwah Officer David Vega pulled him over for multiple equipment violations, according to James Batelli, the township's police chief.
During the stop, Vega discovered that Walsh had a prior arrest for weapons violations, and initiated a search of the truck's cab. Inside, he found a pair of guns — a Glock 32 in an upper compartment and a Glock 33 on the passenger seat floor, Batelli said.
Both were loaded with hollow point bullets, which are illegal in New Jersey.
"Neither weapon had been reported stolen," Batelli said.
Walsh told police that he was on his way to a repair shop in Mahwah to fix a mechanical problem with his trailer when he was stopped.
He was charged with two counts of handgun possession and a single count of possessing hollow point bullets. He was released on his own recognizance, and is due to appear in municipal court n June 4.


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DistributionRead full entry
Range DescriptionMarmosa mexicana is widely distributed across tropical and subtropical forests and shrubby habitats below 1,600 m elevation from Mexico to Panama. It is also known to occur on two Caribbean islands: Isla de Roatn (Honduras) and Isla del Maz Grande (Nicaragua) (Rossi et al. 2010). Recent molecular evidence has suggested that M. mexicana could represent an entity formed by at least two species, which might be recognized after future studies. This information allows revision of the geographical distribution of M. mexicana (see Gutirrez et al. 2010).


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Aly's Favourites: Decorative boxes make a statement in any roomMulti-functional, decorative and practical, a decorative box is the perfect addition to any home's decor.
Ruth Myles: Flooded High River home profiled on special episode of Holmes Makes it RightThis week's instalment of Holmes Makes It Right strays from the usual formula of Mike Holmes and crew meeting unhappy homeowners, surveying an improperly built/renovated home and then making it ...
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Ruth Myles: "Art house" offers a different view for residents of High RiverJerry (Zac) Shiel has been down before. He was homeless as a youth, sleeping in cars and stairwells, and had more than his fair share of trouble, spending time in ...
Making Monday better by celebrating the true meaning of homeIt's something many of us likely take for granted - a safe and happy place to call home. And that's why grade four, five and six students across Canada are ...


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Detective Lt. Michael Gaimari said police and animal control officers found a dead male pit bull as they were patrolling in the Bridgeton Villas apartment complex off of Cottage Avenue around 9 a.m., Friday.
The dog, which they described as tan and about one year old, was found near the fenced in area of the Grant building.
Gaimari said it had been either stabbed or cut, and the officers discovered a large kitchen knife a short distance from where they found the dog.
Police and officials from the Cumberland County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are investigating the incident.
Gaimari asked that anyone with information on the owner of the animal or on the circumstances of its death call detectives as soon as possible at (856) 451-0033.


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In a Speech in Mexico, Obama Pledges the Continuation of Gun Control Pushes
I honestly can't stress this enough: The gun control storm hasn't passed; we're just in the eye of it.
Don't believe me? President Obama isn't even trying to hide the fact that this fight for our rights is far from over. In an ominous speech given in Mexico on Thursday after a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto where he called the recent defeat of all federal gun control efforts "just the first round."
Obama spoke to the country that is ravished by gun violence but that still maintains some of the strictest gun control laws in the world. Overlooking such "coincidences," Obama seems to enjoy speaking to crime-riddled places like Mexico and Chicago and assuring them that the policies that are working wonders for those places are being pushed on a national level.
Obama spoke boldly of his commitment to the Mexican government and promised, ironically enough,
"I also reaffirmed our determination in the United States to meet our responsibilities — to reduce the demand for illegal drugs and to combat the southbound flow of illegal guns and cash that help to fuel violence."
Words are cheap. I just need to point out the obvious: if President Obama were truly committed to combat the flow of illegal guns to Mexican drug cartels, Attorney General Eric Holder would be in jail by now.
Obama also answered a question from the press and addressed gun control, saying,
"The last time we had major gun legislation it took six, seven, eight tries to get passed. Things happen somewhat slowly in Washington, but this is just the first round. And when you've got 90 percent of the American people supporting the initiatives that we put forward around background checks and making sure that drug traffickers, for example, can't just send in somebody with a clear record to purchase guns on their behalf with no way of tracking or stopping that, when you had common-sense legislation like that that the overwhelming majority of Americans, including gun owners, those of us who strongly support the Second Amendment, all of us supporting, I believe that eventually we're going to get that done. And I'm going to keep on trying."
"Those of us who strongly support the Second Amendment…"? What's this "us," Barack?
Again, if Obama was serious about stopping trans-national drug trafficking, he should investigate the biggest facilitator of such trafficking in the United States that just so happens to be the Attorney General.
Further, Obama's continued insistence that gun control measures will be pushed over and over again is entirely unsettling but not altogether unsurprising. While he loves to mention that "90 percent" of Americans agree with him, I can't help but note that since gun control efforts failed in Congress, nobody seems to care.
Our movement has many great, impassioned people and we have all worked to keep tyrants at bay as best we can. Many of us are hardworking family-oriented people who value more important things than near-constant political activism. Our eagerness to simply be left alone and for our rights to be left untouched is our weakness; the gun-grabbers know that with enough attempts, our defenses must weaken.
I sincerely hate to be the bearer of bad news, but on this matter, we simply cannot afford to ever let our guard down. While it's tempting to breathe a sigh of relief after the last exhausting push for gun control, we must breathe with the full knowledge that the left is only regrouping and will continue.
Greg Campbell is a contributor for The Tea Party News Network and is the lead gun rights columnist for resistancemovement.com. Follow him on Twitter:Follow @GregCampbell_18
Also see...
Even though my father, brother, uncles and grandfather were in the military, I seldom handled guns growing up. That's because unlike many of the other people in my family, I've...Read More
Greg Campbell
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DENVER -- Glen Spagnola marched at the head of a crowd of some 2,000 protesters right to the entrance of the Pepsi Center, the site of the Democratic National Convention -- and then couldn't figure out what to do.
"Frankly, I didn't think the police would let us get this far, so we really didn't plan on this," the Denver resident said over a bullhorn.
So he sat down, and maybe 100 others joined him, and they all waited for the helmeted cops nearby to carry them off.
"Hey, they're cool there, it's all right," said Sonny Jackson, a spokesman for the Denver police, standing atop a highway divider nearby. The cops did nothing about the sit-in.
So Spagnola, wearing a shirt depicting an automatic rifle with the legend "Defend Denver," got up, along with the rest of the sit-in demonstrators and started marching again. Refusing to use the "zone" designated for protests, they headed straight for a phalanx of truncheon-carrying police.
Who surprisingly stepped aside and let the marchers by.
"You going to arrest us?" Spagnola asked.
"No, sir, you want to keep marching, you just keep marching," said the chief of the 12-member squad.
This caused great confusion among protesters.
"We know how to handle this," said Denver officer J.C. Padilla. He rode at the head of the parade in a vehicle that looked like an oversized golf cart. Above the cart was a digital signboard that alternately flashed "Follow Us" and "Welcome to Denver."
The protesters, some wearing bandannas over their faces -- a behavior forbidden by police during demonstrations at the GOP convention in New York four years ago -- shouted some angry slogans at the police, including "This is what a police state looks like."
But, if this were a police state, it was a laid-back police state. Most of the police presence came in the form of scores of bicycle-riding cops who accompanied the march.
"We have riots after Avalanche and Broncos games," said Padilla. "And you should see what happens on Columbus Day when the Native Americans mix it up with the Italians. Now that's a real problem."
The protesters had an edge to them, some calling for anarchy, others carrying banners contending "only revolution and communism can save humanity."
Most protesters were part of an umbrella organization called "Recreate 68" -- a name chosen to hark back to the massive street demonstration that accompanied the Democratic National Convention in 1968.
"We're trying to create the same spirit," said Erich Smeaton, who lived in Elizabeth before moving to Colorado after college. He staffed a booth that sold the "Defend Denver" t-shirts. "The shirts mean that these people want to defend their home turf, the streets. Just like in Chicago. It's the same message."
But Denver cops were not behaving like Chicago police in 1968 and, despite some of the angry chants and calls for revolt -- one group shouted slogans in support of anti-American Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr -- the march from the Colorado Statehouse two miles to the convention center was more street theatre than anything else.
It ranged from the funereal demonstrators who wore white death masks -- and also sat in without incident during the march -- to two guys in a huge polar bear suit marching against global warming.
One bare-chested group of young men carried a 15-foot high model of the Earth and called for new energy policies. Others wore striped prison suits with giant puppet heads, depicting effigies of President George Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
The last group in line were supporters of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader. They drove in a float bearing a large balloon in the shape of a beer bottle -- a protest of television debates, sponsored by brewing companies, that have not invited Nader.
The best known among the demonstrators was Ron Kovic, a founder of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, whose life was depicted in the book and movie "Born on the Fouth of July."
The anti-war demonstrators passed a smaller group -- fewer than 100 -- supporting the war in Iraq; they were completely surrounded by police from nearby Aurora, and the two groups exchanged only opposing slogans.
The oddest-dressed demonstrator in the larger crowd was Levi Starbird of Grand Junction, who said he was a volunteer for the Obama campaign. In the hot summer sun, he wore a dark pin-striped suit, white shirt and Navy blue tie.
"I figured I'd stand out," said Starbird, a student.
He did.


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I have done a search and could not find any recent threads regarding this....
Was just looking on US Airways website making a dividend miles booking and noticed in the a new press realise stating how US Airways are making a number of "Service Enhancements" over their system.
This includes a major upgrade to the cabins of their Transatlantic 757 and 767 fleets and also seeing some service improvements too:
Transatlantic Envoy Class
Better meals, snacks and wine
Fully-electric seats on our Boeing fleet (near lie-flat on B767s) with adjustable headrests, 60" pitch and 110 volt adapter with free AC power
New personal video and audio entertainment devices with on-demand entertainment options (B757s and B767s)
Refreshed cabin interior with new sidewalls, dividers, overhead bin doors, lavatories and carpet on our Boeing fleet
Improved in-flight service procedures to enhance the overall experience
Transatlantic Economy Class
Better meals and snacks
Test premium wine for sale by the glass
New leather seats (B757s and B767s)
New LCD flat screens and digital media file servers for better video and audio entertainment (B757s and B767s)
Refreshed cabin interior with new sidewalls, dividers, overhead bin doors, lavatories and carpet on our Boeing Fleet
Full Details:
I suppose calling the upgrades to the fleet as "XM" is a bit on an exageration compared to Air Canada's upgrade, and assume reading from the press release, PTV's will not be present in economy and will be the drop down screens from the overlead lockers like on their Airbus 320 family fleet.
Appreciate some of the improvements are not exactly all that innovative or new, compared to other airlines competing with US Airways. But is nice to see US Airways making a step in the right direction, esspecially when I read some of the negative feedback about them on here!


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Mailbox and Post Combo
Answer: Please click the link to view the Mayne and Salsbury Packages. Thank you.
Question: Where can I order the front plaque sold separately?
Answer: Front plaque for which mailbox?
Question: Do you have a front and rear entry mailbox with a newspaper holder?
Answer: Please check these: Mailbox WL-4325BLKBM and Newspaper holder WL-4315BLKBM
Question: I want to order a cast iron bronze mailbox with key lock and paper box. Can I speak to a person to help me with my order?
Answer: If you need any assistance, please feel free to call our customer service line at 866-707-0008 and we will be more than happy to help!


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New concepts in gene design emphasize the control of protein translation kinetics as a means to improve yield and alter protein solubility and activity. Many expression systems are now available for producing proteins in diverse organisms. Adapting genes for predictable performance in these systems requires more than just controlling transcription and translation initiation. Translation elongation pausing encoded by pairs of codons plays a key role in host-specific expression. The required modifications in the so–called silent nucleotides in the open reading frame can dictate wholesale redesign of the gene. This requirement for host-specific adaptation of the gene will drive drug development programs into the era of synthetic biology. The convergence of large-scale DNA synthesis capability, better technology for gene expression, and the massive computational capacity needed to design genes de novo make the practical methodology of gene design a new necessity.
Modern drug development programs depend heavily on targets identified first as gene sequences. Although information from various "omic" sciences provides a map to treasured target genes, the drug development process really depends on obtaining sufficient quantities of each protein that is encoded in these "druggable targets." A key to enabling expression is being able to control transcription and translation of recombinant genes.
Controlling Transcription and Translation Initiation of Recombinant GenesAs a way to better understand the problem of how to control protein expression, let us consider how recombinant proteins currently are produced. Early Escherichia coli expression systems emphasized overall yield, but high protein expression levels in E. coli often result in insoluble protein that forms inclusion bodies. Although these insoluble particles can be purified easily, and sometimes can be refolded to yield soluble protein, there is a lot of interest in controlling factors that determine protein folding as a means of obtaining soluble, active protein.
Refinements introduced in the 1990s and in the past five years have made production in E. coli more sophisticated.1,2 One technique that has been used to overcome difficult transcription problems is to put the gene under the control of a robust promoter from the RNA phage T7 system and introduce the phage polymerase to drive transcription. Another approach is to use highly repressible promoters (derived from the arabinose operon) to maintain control over genes that are problematic for maintaining vector plasmids in the cell. In addition to transcription initiation control, the end of the message (the 3' untranslated region) can be stabilized by sequences that promote RNAse III cleavage.
New Hosts to Consider
Perhaps the most dramatic change in protein expression has been the broadened choice of host organisms with expression systems that have well controlled recombinant protein expression systems.3-6 Recombinant proteins now are produced in a variety of bacteria, yeasts, fungi, insect cells, tissue culture, and even whole plants and animals.
More complex systems such as tissue culture or recombinant animals and plants are time-consuming and expensive. Thus, these systems are appropriate for producing proteins with mammalian-specific post-translational modifications or proteins that depend on ancillary proteins such as chaparonins to fold.
By contrast, producing protein in micro-organisms such as E. coli, yeast, or fungal hosts is cheaper and often faster. In addition, when these simpler systems can produce an appropriate active molecule, they can produce very large amounts of protein.
For any given choice of host, however, a choice of transcription promoters and vectors exists, and no host is universally successful in producing proteins of interest. When contemporary "omic" sciences generate a list of dozens or hundreds of target proteins that do not have a history of successful protein expression, the complexity of finding an expression system customized for each gene may be unmanageable.
Clearly, there is a collision between the opportunities and demands placed on protein expression programs by the "omic" sciences and the capabilities of current systems. It is difficult to justify either abandoning hard-won targets or performing a survey of various combinations of host and recombinant expression system available for every protein in a list.
So, what is lacking in the technology of heterologous gene expression that makes producing an arbitrary protein so unpredictable?
Transcription and Translation Elongation


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SAULT STE. MARIE -- A four-goal rally in the third period wasn't enough for Western Michigan University Friday night.
Not after giving up six goals in the opening 24 minutes.
The Broncos fell 7-4 to Lake Superior State in a Central Collegiate Hockey Assocation game at Taffy Abel Arena.
"Our team showed a lot of resiliency to battle back in the third period," WMU coach Jim Culhane said. "We got some momentum going with some power-play goals, but that is a big hole to dig out of. When you get down like that (6-0 after two periods) all you can do is try to do something positive in the final 20 minutes. We just have to regroup for tommorrow night."
Seven different players scored goals for the Lakers (10-15-8, 7-12-6-2 CCHA), who matched their highest goal output of the season. The Lakers moved one point ahead of the Broncos (9-17-7, 6-13-6-2) in the CCHA standings as both teams continue to strive for a top-eight league finish.
"We had a great start, and two really good periods," Lake Superior coach Jim Roque said. "Give Western credit for battling back. They've demonstrated this season that they can score. We knew they would keep fighting back, so no lead was really safe."
Nathan Perkovich and Dan Barczuk notched one goal and two assists each for the Lakers. Perkovich, Barczuk and Josh Sim scored in the first period, while Kyle Haines, Zac MacVoy and Carter Lee scored goals for the Lakers during a span of 1:43 early in the second period to make it 6-0.
Western Michigan replaced starting goaltender Riley Gill with Jerry Kuhn after LSSU's fifth goal. Gill finished with 13 saves, while Kuhn had 17 saves.
The Broncos found some life in the third period, scoring four straight goals. They were 2-for-2 on the power play during that stretch, getting goals from Kyle O'Kane and Greg Squires with the man advantage. Ian Slater and Patrick Galivan also scored for the Broncos, who put all four of their goals in within the first 10 minutes of the period to pull within 6-4.
Nehring ended the Broncos' rally with his sixth goal of the season at the 10:09 mark as LSSU regained a 7-4 lead.
"We were back in the game, but their seventh goal killed us," said Galivan, who finished with a goal and assist. "We have to take that momentum from the third period, and get off to a better start Saturday."
The loss snapped a six-game unbeaten streak for the Broncos in road games, dating back to Dec. 19.


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Teachers say they want no part of paddling students for classroom indiscretions.
Saturday's post about whether students of today would behave better if they faced discipline methods of the past sparked a great deal of debate. I was particularly interested in hearing from folks with teaching experience. The comments section and my email box quickly filled.
"A teacher who can only control a class through fear doesn't belong in a classroom," former teacher Eleanor Sharrow wrote in an email.
"I retired from teaching six years ago, having started back in the day when a few teachers and the principal used a paddle. It was horrible then and it is horrible now. In addition to teaching the wrong lesson, corporal punishment opens the door to lawsuits, resentment and retribution by angry teenagers. Students do not learn from an adult who hits them, and they don't respect them either.
"Good teachers control the class through force of personality. They are creative and interesting professionals who know how to encourage all students to learn. Too bad the current focus on standardized test scores has not yet figured out to factor that in to the teachers' evaluation.
John Gleason taught 6th grade from 1960 to 1975 – joking that he's so old the "the Dead Sea was only sick when I was born!"
"The law at that time as I understood it was teachers were given the same rights as a parent. Something in Latin like...locus parentus.
"As a teacher, I would not put my hand on a student unless to stop them from injuring or fighting with another student.
"I attended Catholic schools and no nun ever hit a student that I ever saw, unlike what comedians say.
"It takes a special knack to discipline 30 kids. Something that is hard to teach teachers.
"Somehow I put the fear of God in them and never hit any of them. I also tried to make class fun when possible. I would let them know even I could find no way of teaching adverbs in a funny way.
"I found if the kids know you like and care for them, they will put up with a lot, including 'yelling' at them when they mess up.
"I have two of my ex-students I now email who looked me up two years ago after all that time. I had three others look me up two years ago but I don't email. Most kids prefer a class that is under control."
Reader SoberTom wrote that he taught during the paddling and non-paddling days.
"Personally, I liked the 'non-paddling' days much better. It impelled me to find more humane methods of classroom control. It took a lot of work and some real shifts in ideas regarding student motivation, but I found those methods and used them to much success.
"For those who have posted here with such great gusto for corporal punishment, let me pose this to you: if a swat across the behind works so wonderfully, why do you have to do it more than once? Why not just up the ante from the onset; pliers, thumbscrews and blowtorches should REALLY get the job done toot-sweet."
Reader lyn6 wrote:
"In a perfect world, I could just go to work and teach my heart out. My students would be respectful, well-mannered, well-fed, well-rested eager learners who, even if they don't like school, have learned that it's not always about what they want.
"Unfortunately this world doesn't exist. I received a paddle once for not working fast enough (I was 4 and in the first grade), and once because a girl took my paper and copied from it (by this time I was 5 in the first grade). For the second incident, because the girl said I gave her permission I was in trouble too. I denied it, but it was the old adage of 'if I get everyone, then I know I got the guilty one too.' These are examples of when paddling is out of control.
"On the flip side, I know some of my students are one or two paddles away from learning that they cannot say and do whatever they want.
"I have seen teachers being threatened, only to have nothing happen to the student because the school doesn't want to lose the money for that student.
"We have many students who take away from the learning environment because of their disruptive, obnoxious behavior. There are countless soft and friendly behavior plans put into place to help them deal with a troubled past, even though if I really wanted you to become better adjusted, I would teach you how to be resilient and succeed in spite of your circumstances, not pity you because of them.
"I know the question is about paddling. Would it help some? Sure it would. Should all teachers be allowed to do it? Heck no. Is it a silver bullet for the ills of the school system? By no means.
"People who complain about the 'cushy' job teachers have really don't understand what we put up with and go through. I do it because I know the kids in this community are capable of so much more than most people think they are.
"I refuse to give up on them and walk away knowing many of them would like to walk away from where they are, but can't. On any given day I'd love to reach out and 'touch' a few of them. But I know it wouldn't solve the problem for the majority. The attitude they bring starts, for most of them, at home. Unless I could paddle the parents when the children are babies, then I don't know how effective it would be.
Reader wiseman31 added:
"As a public schoolteacher, I am not for paddling but as a catholic school kid we were paddled. Although in my experience it wasn't abused, I see very real possibilities for abuse.
"One thing I have noticed is since corporal punishment was outlawed schools have gone done the drain due to lack of discipline. Blame whomever you want but without discipline you cannot have order, high expectations and a good effort on the part of students. Look at our military, we are the best because of strict disciple and training. You cant live it by reading a story/book.
"I know people will say I must be a slacker and that's OK. I can handle it, fact of the matter is I spend 60 percent with the same eight goofballs each day who have never had to follow directions, make an effort or take responsibility for their actions.
"If in the first two weeks of school I could swat one or two (the clown ring leaders) the other 99 percent would fall in line. I would bet my career my scores will rise significantly. Special education students in self-contained classrooms would be exempt, they have other issues.
"Parents would scream abuse and sue, but just ask a police officer what happens when a suspect or even a motorist doesn't comply with a direct order/instruction. They get ripped from a vehicle, slammed to the ground, arrested or tased.
"Kids have no clue that everybody must follow directions/orders from somebody. I have to follow the law and accept the consequences (My choice). These kids get away with anything they want then as teenagers try it with the local police and BAM! They get smacked down hard and rebel more (Hence all the little gangster wannabees out there), end up in prison.
"SPARE THE ROD, SPOIL THE CHILD has been the a constant truth for thousands of years. The Legislature changed that constant and look what we have today? I didn't fear my teachers or father but I did know they DEMANDED a certain level of RESPECT and when that line was crossed you were going to accept the CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS. Mom called it tough love and we as a society need more of it."
And, teacherguy23 and gvsulaker had similar thoughts.
"As a teacher I want the right to discipline parents because their children behave badly. It is the parents responsibility to teach them how to behave and what behavior is appropriate. Parents need to be pentalized in some way when their children ruin the educational opportunities of others."
Gvsulaker gets the last words:
"As an educator I would say "no" to paddling, but if all parents would work with the teacher toward help improve the child's schoolwork habits/behavior, we wouldn't need threats of violence as a deterrent."
And, just to be clear, the practice has been illegal in Michigan for decades.
E-mail Dave Murray: firstname.lastname@example.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterDMurray


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Parish President Pat Brister will deliver a Breakfast Briefing on July 27 at Pinewood Country Club, 405 Country Club Blvd., Slidell.
The East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce event is sponsored by Dammon Engineering, Engineers & Associates and the Northshore Harbor Center. It will begin at 8 a.m., with doors opening; and the program will start at 8:30 a.m.
The cost is $30, general admission; and $25, chamber members. Call the chamber at 985.643.5678.
Macy's is partnering with East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity to invite customers to participate in Macy's seventh annual "Shop for a Cause" charity shopping event. Macy's 2012 Shop for a Cause will take place July 25; customers can purchase tickets now from East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity. The one-day-only shopping event was created to support local charities' fundraising efforts, and has successfully helped raised more than $42 million for charities throughout the country since 2006.
Macy's has provided East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity with shopping passes to sell for $5 each. The organization will keep 100 percent of every ticket it sells. Tickets are available at the ESTHFH office at 747 Old Spanish Trail, Slidell, LA 70458.
By purchasing a shopping pass to the event from East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity, customers support the mission of Habitat for Humanity and improve the lives of our area's residents, while enjoying a day of spectacular discounts, entertainment and special events.
"ESTHFH places families in safe, decent and affordable homes in Slidell, Pearl River and Lacombe. These homes are financed through a no-interest 25-year mortgage, allowing these families, who would not otherwise qualify for a conventional mortgage, to experience the pride and joy of home ownership," said Debbie Crouch, president and CEO of ESTHFH.
My Girlfriend's Closet, a nonprofit boutique offering gently used women's clothing and accessories for sale to benefit the Rainbow Child Care Center, will accept donations July 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 881 Robert Blvd. (behind Domino's Pizza).
The next sale will be Aug. 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Aug. 3 and 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the same address.
For information on Rainbow Child Care Center or the My Girlfriend's Closet project, call 646.1603.
"Safe Kids 101: Preparing Today's Kids to Stay Safe" will teach children ages 9-14 about the responsibilities of being safe at home and out in the neighborhood. The program will be presented July 26, 1 to 4 p.m., at Cross Gates Family Fitness Youth Activity Center, 200 N. Military Road, Slidell.
Topics will include: Basic safety guidelines for staying home alone; what is an emergency and how to get help; fire, cooking and Internet safety; making wise choices; stranger danger; and more.
Participants will take home a workbook. Class size is limited. Registration is required. The cost is $20 per person. Register by calling Cross Gates Family Fitness at 985.643.2049.
The Friends of the Slidell Library will hold its next quarterly used book sale July 27 and July 28 at the Slidell Branch Library, 555 Robert Blvd., in the branch library meeting room.
On Friday, the members-only preview sale will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Only members may select and purchase books on Fridays, but as always, memberships are for sale or renewal at the door. Annual memberships cost $5 for individuals and $8 for families. Payment in the form of cash or personal checks will be accepted.
The public sale Saturday will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Book prices will range from 50 cents for mass market paperbacks and children's books to $1 for trade paperback and hardcover books. All magazines will sell for 10 cents each.
The Friends' used book sales, silent auctions, and other special sale events help raise funds to buy items not in the regular library budget for the Slidell, Pearl River, and Lacombe library branches. Recent purchases include additional furnishings for the Teen Center in the Slidell branch; outside media return drops for Pearl River and Lacombe branches, benches and picnic table for the grounds of the Slidell lbranch, and two new display cases for the Slidell branch.
Volunteers always are needed to assist in book sales and with other activities.
To volunteer for the sale or to obtain additional information regarding Friends' membership and activities, send email to email@example.com.
Zeta Sigma Project Vote will be held July 28 from 9 to 11 a.m. at St. Tammany Jr. High School's gym, 701 Cleveland Ave., Slidell.
This community service is being provided by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.'s national program, Z-HOPE: Zetas Helping Other People Excel through Mind, Body and Spirit.
The Slidell chapter of Zeta Phi Beta, Tau Kappa Zeta Graduate Chapter, its auxiliary groups Zeta Amicae of Slidell, Zeta Youth Academy and members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. will co-sponsor the projects.
Zeta Sigma Project Vote will give unregistered voters the opportunity to get involved in the political arena by registering to vote onsite. Anyone who wishes to register to vote must bring a valid photo ID.
Tau Kappa Zeta, Zeta Amicae of Slidell and Zeta Youth Academy also will be conducting their annual Z-Pack It Up school supply distribution. Guardian and child must be present to receive one backpack per child.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. is a nonprofit, community service action-oriented organization serving communities worldwide since 1920.
For information about Zeta Phi Beta, visit http://www.zphib1920.org. For information about the
Z-Pack It Up distribution of school supplies, contact Gayle Green at 985.789.3573 or Clara Gines at 985.643.8151. For information about the Zeta Sigma Project Vote 2011, please contact April B. Thompson-Ocana at 985.290.9506.
Ochsner Golden Opportunity members will be on the road again, Aug. 9, departing from the Ochsner Medical Center - North Shore at 8:30 a.m. en route to the Ochsner Medical Center - Covington facility to collect west St. Tammany members at 9 a.m. Their next stop will be the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory in Livingston, followed by lunch at Don's Seafood.
The day trip will wrap up with a visit to the Louisiana Mud Painting Gallery, where a painting demonstration will be given.
The cost is $45 per person for Golden Opportunity members.
Golden Opportunity is a program for adults 50 and older in the north shore region. The program promotes an active, healthy, independent lifestyle for all seniors. Golden Opportunity offers a broad range of wellness services, educational information and seminars, wellness screenings, special discounts, social activities and travel opportunities.
Call 985.872.2799 for membership details and to register.
Slidell Elks Lodge 2321 will have a luau-themed dance Aug. 18 from 8 p.m. to midnight at the lodge off Thompson Road, just west of Slidell. BYOL and cash bar will be available. Guests may bring their own snacks, and enjoy dance and line dance music. The cost is $15 per person, at the door.
All money raised through Elks fundraisers supports local youths, veterans and community programs.
Call 985.641.1266 for details.
Nunez Community College in Chalmette will hold early fall registration beginning Monday. Some changes to the process have occurred, because of the statewide implementation of a new student database system that will allow students to apply for admission, as well as perform other transactions online.
"The LOLA System will definitely be a change for both our students and our staff," stated Angie Jones, director of admissions. "It is a new system, so there will be growing pains, but we think that in the long run it, will be a more efficient and effective means of admitting and registering students."
After the system is fully implemented, students will be able to check grades, print their own unofficial transcripts, and check the status of their financial aid.
Students can check out the new system online by accessing the Nunez website at www.nunez.edu and following the prompts beginning Monday. Registration (enrollment for courses) still will be handled in person on campus. On-site registration will take place Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For information, call 504.278.6467.
International High School of New Orleans is bringing 20 exchange students from around the world for the upcoming school year. These are all English-speaking honor students who have their own spending money.
IHSNO is seeking families in the area to host these junior and senior students for this school year, starting Aug. 13 through June 10, 2013. Applicants may be single, a family with children or a family without children.
For details, contact Lynette Lopez at the International High School at email@example.com or 504.554.1325.


text: Explore Athens and around The Acropolis Pláka Monastiráki and Psyrrí Sýndagma Omónia and the bazaar North of the centre Western Athens Kolonáki and the museum quarter Southern Athens Pireás Around Athens: Attica Share Even on a purely visual level, the central bazaar and nearby flower market are well worth a visit, while the surrounding streets, especially Evripídhou, are full of wonderfully aromatic little shops selling herbs and nuts, and others concentrating on supplies for a peasant way of life that seems entirely at odds with modern Athens – rope, corks, bottles and preserving jars. On Sunday mornings from around 6am until 2pm, between Monastiráki and Thissío metro stations, you will find a flea-market of authentic Greek junk (used phone cards and the like) spread out on the pavements, especially along the metro lines towards the Thissío end of Adhrianoú. Among the best and most central street markets are: Mondays, Hánsen in Patissíon (Metro Áyios Eleftheríos); Tuesdays, Lésvou in Kypséli (Metro Viktorías) and Láskou in Pangráti (trolley #2 or #11); Fridays Xenokrátous in Kolonáki, Dhragoúmi in Ilísia (Metro Evangelismós/Mégaro Mousikís), Tsámi Karatássou in Koukáki (Metro Akrópoli) and Arhimídhous in Mets, behind the Panathenaic Stadium; and on Saturdays Plakendías in Ambelókipi (Metro Ambelókipi) and Kallidhromíou in Exárhia. Usually running from 7am to 2pm, these are inexpensive and enjoyable, selling household items and dry goods, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, dried herbs and nuts. Read More


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Compelling Storage Virtualization Software
Decades of growth of applications, storage and complexity have delivered unprecedented economic, operational and flexibility challenges to the world of IT. To meet these demands today's IT department is turning to virtualization, not just of systems and applications, but in every facet of IT. When broadly and carefully deployed, virtualization has the capability to ensure that management focus is where it should be: on applications and organizational results rather than on hardware choices. This ESG Lab Validation documents the results of hands-on testing of DataCore SANsymphony-V R8 Storage Virtualization Software. ESG Lab evaluated SANsymphony-V with an eye on assessing the value of infrastructure-wide storage virtualization including centralized management, ease of use, capacity efficiency, data mobility, and performance. The enhanced high availability and disaster recovery capabilities of synchronous mirroring within campuses or metropolitan areas and long distance asynchronous remote replication are also presented.


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Washington Nationals Offer C.J. Wilson Six-Year DealDecember 6, 2011 – 1:03 am by Ryan Phillips
Well, the Miami Marlins made their splash in free agency by locking up shortstop Jose Reyes and closer Heath Bell, and now apparently the Washington Nationals are trying to do the same.
Reports have surfaced that the Nats have gone out on a limb and offered free agent lefty C.J. Wilson the six-year contract that no one else seems willing to give him. Wilson was originally asking for six years at around $100 million and that was so over the top that even the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox were scared off. We can't believe he actually got that offer from Washington, but we wouldn't be surprised if the final number was around $90 million over those six years.
Wilson reportedly has five teams chasing after him, one of which is the Texas Rangers who he's played his entire career with to this point. The Chicago Cubs are apparently also kicking the tires on Wilson, while the Marlins and Los Angeles Angels have also met with him.
The Marlins and Nationals appear to be the front-runners in this saga and the 31-year-old lefty will likely make a decision before the new year.
Wilson is considered one of the top free agent pitchers on the market this winter as he has had two very good seasons since converting to a starting role following five seasons in relief.
In his first full year as a starter in 2010, Wilson went 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 33 starts. He Allowed just 161 hits, 76 earned runs and 93 walks, while striking out 170 in 204 innings.
In 2011 he improved on those numbers, finishing 16-7 with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 34 starts. He allowed 191 hits, 73 earned runs and 74 walks, while striking out 206 in 223.1 innings.
The Nationals are really trying to make a splash this offseason. They have ramped up their pursuit of Prince Fielder and Wilson and would love to land both to add to their already impressive group of young talent. We don't think Wilson is worth anywhere near $100 million over six years, but the Nats are trying to make a statement that they plan to be big-time players for baseball's best talent.
We'll see if Wilson buys into that and heads east.


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If you've been following our Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich coverage, around the time the first screenshots were leaked, a couple of ICS-specific applications have also surfaced on the internet and Google+ was one of them.
Now Google has officially updated the application and, aside from the usual bugfixes and performance enhancements, it also brings a completely new user interface. Ice Cream Sandwich is written all over it but aspect aside, you can now sign out the application and add people to a circle from circle profiles. Follow the source link below to download or update.
Source: Android Market
Via: PhanDroid


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So, remember those drums I said were my favorite (and most annoying) gift this year? Well, they've rapidly plummeted to the bottom of the list.
Just as I finished writing the previous post, I packed up and headed home for the night. Once I opened my car door, I could already hear a commotion going on inside the house, followed by "What did you DO?!?!" I sighed, took a deep breath and walked inside.
Come to find out, my charming 7 year old daughter used the drumsticks on the computer monitor. Apparently she just couldn't help herself and continued pressing and poking the sticks into the monitor until it was completely messed up. And then, for some reason, she felt compelled to take a picture of her destruction!!!
I'm at a loss. How do we deal with this one? She did spend the rest of the evening in her bedroom, alone. And we told her she will be doing extra chores for a long time to work that off. But we need to dig deeper here. What would compel her to do something like that?
Moving on, we brought up the gigantic old computer monitor from the basement to fill in. We only had it set up for a few hours, and all was working well, until my husband inserted a CD that came with a new MP3 player, and the screen went berzerk, posing a remarkably similar appearance to the above. However, I know it's not the monitor since it does look OK during startup, but then reverts to just scrambles. Aaarrghh!! I have absolutely $0 to deal with this and even less patience. But I need it fixed! We have tons of documents and thousands of pictures on that computer! What the heck?!? I really don't need this right now!
I'll figure something out. Until then I just need to remember to breathe, and move on.


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An extra is something that dosent HAVE to be there but it is for more fun more enjoyment and what not. So they are extras. Does it need Channels for the Wii to run? Nope. Thanks for replying to my post, it makes me feel that i accomplished by getting something through to you. And duh everything costs money? Did i say something about money??Originally Posted by JVIPER82
No I wasnt..why were you talking about that?


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Not all Michigan employment news is dark and cloudy. Last year was another strong one for solar across the country, despite the economic recession, the Solar Energy Industries Association says.
Today saw the release of the SEIA's 2009 U.S. Solar Industry Year in Review.
Some findings:
- Solar electric capacity increased by 37 percent;
- Total solar industry revenue reached $4 billion, a 36 percent increase over 2008;
- The solar industry added 17,000 new jobs.
The whole thing is online at the SEIA web site (.pdf).


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DETROIT, MI - Another national news outlet has taken a hard look at Detroit, and it has plenty of TV viewers in the metro area talking.
The latest analysis came from CBS' "60 Minutes" and reporter Bob Simon; he took a hard look at the city's issues with blight, bankruptcy and other challenges.
You can watch the more than 13-minute story in the player below.
MLive Detroit wants to know what you think of the story in our reader poll. The piece has already received criticism from Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert.


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I have hear of so many people having hard time especially this time of the year the young girl where I get my gas was telling me how she doesn't know how she is going to pay off her lay away for her son so he has a good Christmases said if she can't pay it off she looses all her money to that's not wright stores should have to give you you money or at least a credit
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by Member on Dec. 6, 2012 at 9:55 AM
What?? They usually just keep a fee of like 5 dollars atleast around here at like Walmart and Marshall's :/ that's so ridiculous
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You would think they would at least do that , I am going to try and help her see if I can bring her into my business told her it won't help this year but I can promise her if she follows the business plan she will never have a bad Christmases again that I can do .picking her up today at 12 noon will let you know how it goes
I know I am seeing her today will ask what store I will go tell them to give her her money she is young don't know if she know how its suppose to work or maybe this store is one we all won't ever shop at if they don't give her her money I know I won't shop their
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Comic Books
- The Doomguy from the comic Doom.
Doomguy: "WHO'S A MAN AND A HALF? I'M A MAN AND A HALF!"
- In his defense he was buzzing on a berserker pack when he said that, but he's pretty damn strange throughout the whole comic.
- Hay Lin from W.I.T.C.H.: very quirky and artistic, cheerful and absent-minded, constantly writing on her palms and using her own expressions like "spacious" (instead of "cool") and "weirdific".
- Ambush Bug: he's crazy, Medium Aware and regularly breaks the fourth wall.
Ambush Bug: Hello, room service? Send up a plot and three pages of dialogue right away! The weekly grind is tearin' me apart! Fifty-two!!!
- The eponymous Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl of Roman Dirge's comic is a rather dark take on the Cloudcuckoolander, as her inattentiveness, tenuous grasp on reality, and near-nonexistant understanding of the concept of mortality leads her to frequently inadvertently cause the deaths of the people and animals she deals with. She could be considered Ax-Crazy, but she's not truly insane, and usually doesn't intentionally mean to cause harm.
- Delirium from The Sandman sometimes comes close to this trope — since she's the Anthropomorphic Personification of insanity, it's probably reasonable to assume that she is genuinely crazy (insofar as this means anything regarding one of the Endless), but nonetheless she does have at least one moment during the series where she pulls herself together and becomes briefly 'sane', though it's made clear that she finds it very difficult to do this. It has been implied that she's not just the incarnation of insanity, but the incarnation of ultimate, painful, sanity-breaking clarity. She also has a few other moments in which she seems to become temporarily slightly more lucid, and comes out with a very perceptive or useful comment before reverting to her usual chaotic self.
- Shivering Jemmy also qualifies. She's an incarnation of Chaos (but not like that), after all.
- For a more mortal and habitually horrible example, see the treatment of Doctor Destiny in the same series; an insane supervillain with control over dream realities, and just enough clarity to use that power to his own advantage.
- Ragdoll. The self castrating, dead friend stuffing, sister fancying, weird phrase spouting, limb contorting freaky-pants of Gail Simone's fantastic Secret Six series. He's quite possibly the only person in the DCU who can make The Joker appear sane by comparison.
Ragdoll: I'm buying a monkey house and a variety of little monkey outfits.
King Shark: I got a unique problem. I like to eat people with eating disorders.
- "I was thinking what it would be like to be abandoned and tortured and abused and forgotten. When your life is so worthless that your only degraded value to anyone is when your pain gives them amusement, and the person entrusted to care for you sees you as more disposable than used tissue... but then I thought... 'I wonder what it's like to f*** a butterfly.'"
- From the same team, King Shark is shaping up into one of these quite nicely.
- "... the man trying hard not to hump your TV is The Drummer."
"First name The, second name Drummer.""You'll regret being so damn abusive when the electric UFO gods transphase in from Dimension Ten to appoint me Manager of the Universe.... I said that out loud, didn't I?"
- Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot, a blue collar surrealist superhero who suffered brain damage from reading 5,000 comic books in one sitting, wears flippers constantly (in case he has to swim) and fights crime because he "needed the exercise."
- Mento of Doom Patrol fame sometimes qualifies as this when wearing the psionic helmet that gives him his powers. It enhances his mind in many ways, but the consequential increased mental activity makes it difficult for him to concentrate. When the helmet malfunctions, it make him fairly eccentric and at one point gave him cancer and dementia.
- Well at least it didn't give him cancer.
- Grant Morrison's run has a villainous example in the form of The Brotherhood of Dada, who believe that good and evil are concepts of an outmoded age and they must simply do things because they can. Their first major "performance" involves their leader, Mr. Nobody, throwing a dead chicken to the ground and saying they've conquered the world, another member turning a gendarme into a toilet filled with flowers, and the use of a magical painting to trap all of Paris.
- The Frenchman and The Female in The Boys. Apparently, they understand each other's private moon logic quite well. Well enough to play Monopoly on a Cluedo board, anyway.
- The Adventures of Tintin: Professor Calculus in Tintin: Red Rackhams Treasure. In all the other books, his hearing problem leads to simple, albeit comedic, misunderstandings. In Red Rackham's Treasure, though, it's so bad that he's completely off in his own little world. Like all good examples of this trope, he even spouts random non-sequiturs out of the blue. Any of the Calculus scenes in this particular book could be considered a Crowning Moment of Funny.
- Airtight from G.I. Joe is described as that weird kid nobody wanted to be around, grown up even weirder. This guy keeps scorpions as pets and eats peanut butter and tomato sandwiches, you guys.
- Don't knock them until you've tried them. Just make sure you toast the bread.
- Bart Allen, especially as Impulse as he appeared in Young Justice, is a perfect example of this trope. He was raised at superspeed in virtual reality in the 30th Century, so it's kind of unavoidable.
- I Luv Halloween - Finch's psychotic little sister, "Moochie", whose a mix of both cloud-cuckoo lander and ax crazy. In volume 2, she goes on a zombie-laden quest to hunt for the "King of the Chonklit Monkeys" whom she believes live within peoples' bowels and take all the Halloween candy and replace it with their poo (she ends up being right in the end). She also disembowls an obese woman and rips her face off with her teeth, extracts molars from the mouths of the dead and the living because she was dressed as the tooth-fairy for Halloween, believes a still-born fetus she finds is her sister, and cuts off a man's buttocks and spanks it as victory for exorcising the chonklit monkey king. Moochie: "Is the much oompah oompah victory parade! Spanked his brown bottom we did! Is trick or treaties for everyone! Yay!
- Norbert Sykes, a.k.a. The Badger, is a prime example. The author tended to vacillate between presenting Badger's mental illness as serious or just an excuse to make him goofy.
- The Séance from The Umbrella Academy. Although admitably it's his constant use of drugs that cause him to be as crazy as he is, he still qualifies.
"Ever wonder what a vegetable thinks about? Firecrackers... bee stings... happy face eggs."
- Essentially all the kids from One Big Happy qualify. Central character Ruthie is pretty obvious, but she has even weirder friends, like vacuum cleaner fetishist Earl.
- Astérix:
- The One-Scene Wonder (even though played by no actual actor) of the British gardener in Asterix in Britain. Trespass on his lawn and he will stab you.
- Squareonthehypotenus, who goes absolutely insane in his attempts to raise the Mansion of the Gods.
- Nathanael Beauregard in The Grievous Journey of Ichabod Azrael - when he falls on another man, his first act is to reassure him that he isn't up to anything gay. He also thinks that limbo is a plot by Native Americans to double-kill him.
- Max from Sam & Max: Freelance Police qualifies big time. His capacity to distinguish between fantasy and reality is directly rooted in Sam's capacity to remind him what the difference is.
- According to Word of God, Max is actually a powerful psychic multi-dimensional hive mind whose thoughts and memories are consistent across all time and all the universes, and the hallucinations we see when looking through his eyes in The Devil's Playhouse are reflections of the adventures other versions of himself are going on in the past, the future and other worlds. This probably explains why he qualifies so much for this trope, but could just as easily have been the creator trolling his fanbase.
- The characters in Scott Pilgrim tend to run in and out of this sometimes, but most famously is Scott himself, with such winning lines as:
Stacy Pilgrim: Maybe you should start thinking about the future, Scott.
Scott: The future? Like, with jet packs?
- And:
Wallace: Scott. It's time to get serious. Break out the L word.
Scott: ...Lesbian?
Wallace: No, Scott, the other L word.
Scott: ...Lesbians?
- And the follow-up joke:
Joseph: Have you used the L word yet?
Scott: Why is everyone obsessed with lesbians!?
- And:
- Starman in Justice Society of America is a Talkative Loon who hears voices, sometimes Breaks The Fourth Wall, and is on medication for schizophrenia. When not on the job, he lives in a psych ward.
- Quite a few of the characters in Bone will occasionally lapse into Cloudcuckoolander territory, but none moreso than Smiley Bone, whose unique worldview makes sense only to him, and who gets quite a few Crazy Awesome moments during the course of the comic.
Rat Creature 1: This is insane!
Rat Creature 2: It's stupid!
Smiley: Hey! Nothing we've done so far has been un-stupid, and we're still alive, aren't we?
Rat Creature 1: I can't really argue with that, but I feel like I should.
- The two Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures also have strong tendencies towards this trope — of the two, the stupider, quiche-obsessed one (generally depicted with brown fur in the color versions) is the most consistent practitioner of the trope, but the smarter, more aggressive one (usually depicted with purple fur, though the colorist occasionally gets confused) has more than his fair share of moments as well.
- The Tick is this trope and Crazy Awesome turned Up to Eleven. His very first appearance was escaping from an insane asylum.
The Tick: And, isn't sanity really just a one-trick-pony anyway? I mean all you get is one trick, rational thinking. But when you're good and crazy, oooh, oooh, oooh, the sky's the limit!
- Mary Jane was like this in her earlier appearances. Readers eventually find out there was some Stepford Smiling going on and in the modern era her character is about 100 times more grounded (still a fun character, just not bat crap crazy). Earlier appearences of Aunt May also indicated that she lived in Cloud Cuckooland (the joke being she was senile). Like MJ, she's since mellowed out a lot, creating some Early Installment Weirdness for readers who go back and read collections of the old trades.
- As far as Spidey villains go there's White Rabbit. If the Alice in Wonderland theme weren't a tip off then the fact her first villainous plan was to rob fast food joints despite being incredibly wealthy and demanding her ransom on the city of New York be paid in quarters should send red flags. And no, unlike the above she never has mellowed (and never will).
- Not Pinkie Pie (for a change), but Rainbow Dash in the second story-arc of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (IDW), who suggests using an enlarging ray on her (so she could transport an entire army to the moon all by herself) and a time machine to rescue Rarity.
- Even when Jackie from Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters isn't brainwashed, he's still talking to himself and chattering away with crazy thoughts.
- Maps from Gotham Academy is the type to fall in love with a grapple gun.
- Jughead Jones from Archie Comics with his big eating, his girl-hating, and his oddball dress and trademark crown. His oddness tends to vary from barely noticeable to completely insane Depending on the Writer, but he's always the weirdest of the group.
- One issue had a rather sad take on this where Jughead only played the part of the oddball to garner laughs as a means of coping with his homelife: his (implied to be single in this issue) mother was very sick and Jughead would fall into a state of depression if he wasn't making people laugh. It ends with the whole gang, even Reggie Mantle, showing up at his house to help him with the housework and provide moral support.
- Marrow during her time with X-Force. She seemed to be completely dissociated from reality, barely able to focus on the task at hand, and spent most of her time babbling to an imaginary someone she addressed as "baby". This was later revealed to be her unborn child; she sacrificed the baby to regain her powers, and had suffered a psychotic break as a consequence.
Comic Strips
- In Curtis, Gunk exhibits various odd behaviors and abilities (explained by the fact that he's from some place called "Flyspeck Island"), as required by the plot.
- Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes possesses such a runaway imagination — he truly lives in Cloudcuckooland.
Ms. Wormwood: Calvin, pay attention!! Now, what state do you live in?
Calvin: Denial.
Ms. Wormwood: (sighing) Well, I suppose I can't argue with that...
—>Calvin (during the pledge of allegiance on the first day of school): I pledge allegiance to Queen Fragg and her mighty state of Hysteria.
- The very fact that he sees Hobbes as real and everyone else doesn't (which often makes them suspect that Calvin is insane) also establishes him a place in this trope. The very fact that Hobbes thinks Calvin is crazy would fit him into this trope if that didn't. There's also the time where he comes into his class dressed as his superhero alter-ego, Stupendous Man. His classmates' facial expressions are the natural reaction anyone would have toward a Cloudcuckoolander.
Calvin: You know why birds don't write their memoirs? Because birds don't lead epic lives, that's why! Who'd want to read what a bird does? Nobody, that's who! (beat) This is changing the subject, but have you ever noticed how somebody can say something totally loony and not be aware of it? What are you supposed to do, just let it slide??
- The very fact that he sees Hobbes as real and everyone else doesn't (which often makes them suspect that Calvin is insane) also establishes him a place in this trope. The very fact that Hobbes thinks Calvin is crazy would fit him into this trope if that didn't. There's also the time where he comes into his class dressed as his superhero alter-ego, Stupendous Man. His classmates' facial expressions are the natural reaction anyone would have toward a Cloudcuckoolander.
- Jon Arbuckle from Garfield, since the late nineties, has gone from a slightly-dim, arrogant loser to a full-fledged Cloudcuckoolander in some strips, with lines of pure insanity like "I think my feet are jealous of my hands because they get to point at things." This without even getting into the surrealistic brilliance of Garfield Minus Garfield and other projects to improve the strip.
- Garfield himself had his moments in the strips (before he got Flanderized into a full-time Deadpan Snarker). Remember when he became Banana Man? Or Amoeba Man?
- The animated special Garfield's Feline Fantasies was all about his mind wandering off into fantastic stories.
- Meanwhile, US Acres had Bo Sheep, who showed more tendencies of this in the comics than the Garfield and Friends animated series.
- Krazy Kat. S/he thinks that getting bricks thrown at her/his head is a sign of affection.
- Get Fuzzy: Both Bucky and Satchel occasionally display these tendencies, and many of Bucky's feline visitors really do.
- The entire Dick Tracy comic, since Max Allan Collins left. Bad guys getting squashed by steamrollers or having their eyes gouged out; businessmen (both good and bad) who dress like playing cards; characters being incinerated in giant fireballs; hillbillies defending themselves with bear traps; and every once in a while, something that seems to make sense. Rarely.
- Sally from Peanuts has her moments:
Sally: Wake up, Santa Claus came last night and he didn't leave you anything! * Pause* April fool!
Eudora: This is my literature report. The book I chose to read was the TV guide.
- Her friend Eudora even more so:
Charlie Brown: Why can't I have a normal dog like everybody else?
- Lucy in the earlier strips. Notably the Trope Namer for Little Known Facts—she thought, for instance, that birds flew to the moon.
- Snoopy.
- Peppermint Patty. To name but one example of her weirdness, she thought that Snoopy was an odd-looking little kid for years.
- Hillary's classmate Nona from Sally Forth. Tends to take Hillary and Faye's idle Zany Schemeing and run with the idea into surrealism. All in the same tone of voice one would normally use when discussing lunch.
- A few characters from the Ink Pen comic strip is this, the main example being Captain Victorious. Here, for instance. Or here.
- Transformers: Wings of Honor: Vortex and Metalhawk get this way when sprayed with chemicals which mess with their processors. Sprocket is revealed to be this way after some feedback when he integrated into a ship. Now he believes that non-sentient machines talk to him, and speaks to imaginary friends. It's gotten to the point where in the final issue, he doesn't even know his brother died, and continues to talk to him as if he was still there.
- Pierce from Zits seems to be always doing his own thing, on impulse, with little regard for consequences.
- Raoul the werewolf in The Bojeffries Saga is somewhat out of touch with reality, for example giving a black workmate white supremacist propaganda because he thought it was too silly to be taken seriously, and failing to notice that all his relatives moved out of their house for years.
- Suske en Wiske: Lambik is often seen doing stupid and crazy things he didn't actually thought through. In De Stalen Bloempot, for instance, he tries climbing out of a castle by rope. His rope then breaks and he plummits down. Lambik tries to solve this problem philosophically by letting the rope go, thinking this will make him stop falling. This, of course, doesn't work.
- A real cloud cuckoolander is Vader Van Zwollem, a man who is literally insane, and protected and taking care of by his daughter Anne-Marie Van Zwollem.
- Gaston Lagaffe: Gaston, who is a clumsy dreamer who is always seen either dozing off or inventing stuff without any regard for the people in his vicinity. Seriously, who would set the entire floor of his apartment underwater just to make his goldfish feel more at home?
- Jommeke: Professor Gobelijn, an Absent-Minded Professor, who is often doing stuff that either brings him or his town in danger, but he always realizes this when its already too late.
- Tom Poes: Wammes Waggel, a naïve goose who is so optimistic and carefree that he never realizes any real danger and thinks everything is a joke.
- Nero: Abraham Tuizentfloot, an insane dwarf who dresses himself up as a 17th century pirate and attacks everybody with his sabre. Despite that he can't even swim! The comic strip in itself is also full of eccentric and insane characters.
- Urbanus: Everybody in this comic strip is pretty daft, especially Urbanus and César. They often engage in zany schemes that others just go along with.


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Jewel of the Seas Cruise Review by terranova: Voyage to St Petersburg
Overall Member Rating
Voyage to St Petersburg
Destination: Baltic Sea
Embarkation: Harwich
The cruise began at Harwich and the embarkation process was very simple and quick. We were soon on board - the Jewel is a lovely ship with lots of areas to sit and have a read, quiet drink or watch the action. Our balcony stateroom (Deck 9) had plenty of storage but the bathroom was small and certainly not as spacious as others we have had. The balcony had a large overhang which meant no sunbathing,so be warned! The real disappointment was the two swimming pools - both nearly 6' deep, so no good for a non swimmer, and too small for the 2,500 on the ship. The pool in the Solarium generally had all the best loungers 'booked' by towels by 7am. The food and service on the ship was very good, as was the entertainment.
But the main event was the visit to St Petersburg and this was excellent. We booked a tour on the internet with Alla Tours of St P and had 2 fascinating days with a small group and a wonderful guide. You can only see a very small part of this beautiful city and I More will certainly go back to explore it again.
Other tours - Copenhagen and Gothenburg were rushed and, for what we saw, not good value for money. Stockholm was lovely with a delightful guide - so much depends on weather, who the guide is and traffic conditions.
The drinks on board were expensive and the 15% service charge made things worse! A very ordinary bottle of wine would be over $30 - on our last cruise on Fred Olsen's Braemar, drinks were much more reasonable without the service charge. But I suppose we could become teatotal for the duration!
All in all a very good cruise which I can recommend. Less
Published 08/02/11
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Cabin review: F9034 Large Ocean View Stateroom
Good storage, comfortable bed with storage underneath, small bathroom, tired sofa, balcony too small for loungers and spoilt by large overhang.Read All Large Ocean View Stateroom (F) Reviews >>
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As a recent retiree to P.E.I., I was surprised to read about Nova Scotian companies employed to redesign waterfront and park facilities in Charlottetown. The much larger served area and population needs of Halifax, to my mind, will offer likely a miniature scale copy of what suits a very different urban centre.
Charlottetown does not need a similar waterfront circus atmosphere, the opposite of which is its saving grace and attraction. Meanwhile Victoria Park, at one-fifth the size of Point Pleasant, need not aspire to its problems such as a confusing array of on and off dog leash trails that few can decipher.
Why spend thousands of city dollars on an out-of-province concept instead of investing in an Island-created plan to best suit our unique city environment here? Offshore ideas are not necessarily better, as so often proven in the past, and can't reflect hometown values when viewed through non-resident eyes.
Too often we think professionals sporting large fees from other provinces know better, whereas the real solutions are often found much closer to home.
Mac Dixon,


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Is The Draft Less Important Than We Think?
Every NFL head coach and general manager tells the gathering at their introductory press conference that, "I'm here to win a Super Bowl." Then, they usually add, "and you build championships through the draft."
Yes . . . but. Get the smelling salts ready, Draftniks; it turns out that while the early rounds are very important, players selected by other teams and those who never get picked at all on draft days are nearly as important to a club's success. Undrafted free agents turn out to be more useful than even middle round picks, and late rounders are pretty well relegated to special teams and selling used cars.
The NFL's best teams -- those that qualify for the Super Bowl -- often build conference titles through means less pure than drafting. Analysis of the last 20 Super Bowl qualifying teams (dating back to the 2003 season) conducted by Football.com indicates that picking up free agents and castoffs has been nearly as valuable as any other method of procuring talent.
Exactly 600 players have started at least three regular-season games for the 20 teams that have played in the Super Bowl (2003-2012 seasons). Here are the percentages of starting players for Super Bowl qualifiers and how they were selected in draft sessions:
- Top choices (Rounds 1-2) with original team: 194 (32.3%)
- Middle round choices (Rounds 3-5) with original team: 119 (19.8%)
- Late round choices (Round 6 and later) with original team: 39 (6.5%)
- Players drafted by other teams (all rounds): 137 (22.8%)
- Undrafted Free Agents: 137 (22.8%)
It should be pointed out that players who were acquired by a new team before ever playing a snap for the team that drafted them (Exhibit A: Eli Manning) were counted in the fourth category above.
Individual teams present some fascinating contrasts. The two-time Super Bowl-participant Indianapolis Colts top all teams at retaining the largest percentage of their draftees. The 2006 and '09 Colts sported 91.4 percent of their starters as Indy draftees. Defensive tackle Anthony McFarland, a former top pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was a rare imported contributor to the Colts team that beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.
The 2009 Colts were unusual for having only a single player drafted by another team: defensive tackle Antonio Johnson, two years removed from his fifth round selection by the Tennessee Titans.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, who made three Super Bowl appearances in the last 10 years, fielded teams with the second-highest percent of the starters (89.4) who were their own original draft picks. Linebacker James Farrior, a first round choice of the New York Jets, was the most important Steelers player picked by another team, as he started on all three of Pittsburgh's Super Bowl teams.
James Harrison, whose length-of-the-field interception touchdown was one of the big plays of the Steelers' Super Bowl win over the Arizona Cardinals, was one of the few undrafted players who made an impact for Pittsburgh. Harrison also started for all three Super Bowl teams.
The New England Patriots, the team with the most Super Bowl appearances in 10 years with four, have constructed their rosters in varying ways. The 2003-'04 teams that each won the championship were relatively high in low round players assuming large roles. Of course, the most famous low draftee, quarterback Tom Brady, has been an important cog in all four title appearances.
The 2007 Patriots were well-balanced in all methods of player procurement, but the 2011 Pats were heavy on undrafted free agents. New England had 13 regulars who went undrafted, the most in the last 10 years. Baltimore and San Francisco, last season's Super Bowl contenders, had nine and one UFAs respectively.
Most people believe every pick of the draft is incredibly important. But the recent free agent era has shown there is more than one way to build an NFL championship roster.


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RCMP urging motorists to use caution
RCMP are urging motorists to use extreme caution on roads in Cumberland County. Freezing rain is resulting in extremely slippery conditions.
AMHERST – RCMP in Cumberland County are urging motorists to exercise extreme caution on the roads as the area experiences freezing rain.
Staff Sgt. Al Carroll of the Cumberland RCMP said officers have been responding to numerous collisions in the county.
"There are four or five out there in various areas right now. We have some on the 104 and some on the secondary roads," Carroll said. "People need to be very careful on the highways right now."
Freezing rain is expected to give way to periods of rain this afternoon as the temperature climbs to 4 C. Rain will continue on Thursday with a high of 11 C.
The area is presently under a wind warning with southwesterly winds gusting to 90 km/h tonight and Thursday. Gusts over the Tantramar Marsh are expected to be as strong as 110 km/h.
Transportation is urging drivers of high-sided vehicles to use extra caution on the highway between the border and Exit 3.