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Kidney Stone Removal
There are many methods that are adopted for kidney stone removal. Kidney stones are formed by the aggregation of tiny crystals that are created by substances that accumulate in the kidney.
Severe flank pain that radiates to the back is the most common symptom of the presence of kidney stones and dehydration is the major risk factor for the formation of stones.
The other signs of kidney stones include presence of blood in your urine, fever, chills, the cloudy appearance of the urine and a burning sensation at the time of urination.
If your kidney stones are small enough and severe symptoms are not present, the doctor will ask you to drink 2 -3 quarts of water every day and take over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen, naproxen sodium and acetaminophen.
Most small kidney stones go out with the urine and you may not require any treatment. Some methods of treatment for kidney stones are discussed below.
How Lithotripsy Works
TREATMENT | Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) |
PROCEDURE | Non-invasive treatment – Shock waves break up the stone into sand particles that flush out of your system during urination. |
Blood in urine – Abdominal discomfort |
RECOVERY | 1 – 2 Days |
COSTS | $5,000 – $7,000* + Prices vary |
This method involves splitting your kidney stone into tiny pieces by focusing shock waves on to the stone through water. The tiny pieces pass out of your body through the urine.
Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy is suitable if you have just one stone and the size of the stone is not more than 3 centimeters.
You can expect a success rate of 90% when the size of the stone is less than 1 centimeter and is located in the pelvic portion of the kidney.
Typically, success rate is decided by the size of your stone and the extent to which it can be crushed.
This treatment method is suitable if you cannot tolerate a surgery or you have health conditions like hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, etc.
If all the stone fragments do not pass off through your urine and some remain in the urinary tract, the possibility of formation of new stones is very high.
Depending on the type of your kidney stone, the effectiveness of this treatment method will vary.
Some types of calcium stones and uric acid stones can be easily crushed and eliminated through urination. Other types of calcium stones are difficult to crush and the success rate in such cases is only around 40%.
In the case of cystine stone, small ones break up easily, but larger stones are difficult to fragment.
The side effects of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy treatment include blood in the urine and abdominal discomfort for several days. You will also experience pain when the pieces of stones rub against the walls of the urinary tract on their way out of the body.
However, you will be back to normal in a short period of time. The cost of carrying out this treatment is around $5,000 – $7,000.
TREATMENT | Ureteroscopy |
PROCEDURE | The surgeon inserts a small fiber optic instrument called a ureteroscope up through the urethra into the bladder then into the ureter where the stone is located and removed using a basket tool or blasted into smaller particles with a fiber laser. |
Potential for ureter damage, blood in urine, pain, burning sensation in the urethra and urinary infection may occur |
RECOVERY | 1 – 2 Days |
COSTS | $5,000* + Prices vary |
In this method, a small fiber optic instrument called ureterscope is passed through your urethra and bladder into the ureter. The surgeon locates the stone and removes it using a tool or crushes it by using shock waves.
He may also leave a small stent in the ureter for a few days after treatment to enable healing of the lining of the ureter. This procedure is done under general anesthesia.
This is an effective technique if the kidney stone is located in the middle or lower part of the ureter.
The risk of damage to the ureters is high in this method.
You may experience pain, discomfort, urinary leakage and infection if the ureter is accidentally perforated.
However, reports indicate that up to 95% of the patients who undergo ureteroscopy become stone free with very few complications. You can return home 24 hours after the procedure.
Laser Lithotripsy
TREATMENT | Laser Lithotripsy |
PROCEDURE | A surgeon inserts a ureteroscope into the urinary tract where he locates the kidney stone and blasts it into small pieces with a fiber laser. |
Nausea, urinary discomfort, blood in the urine |
RECOVERY | 1 – 2 Days |
COSTS | $5,000* + Prices vary |
In this treatment the urologist introduces a scope into your urinary tract to locate the stone.
The urologist then directs the laser on to the stone through the laser fiber using the working channel of the scope.
The stone is disintegrated and the pieces are washed off through the urinary tract.
You will be administered local or general anesthesia to carry out this minimally invasive surgery.
The advantages of Laser Lithotripsy over Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) include:
• Suitable for more complex stones.
• With a single treatment higher success rates can be achieved.
• For stone-free results only fewer sessions are required.
• There is no risk of developing seeds for future stone formation.
In the early days of development of the technique, a stay in the hospital was required to conduct the procedure. Currently, it is being done as an outpatient procedure.
Some of the side effects from surgery are nausea due to anesthesia and blood in the urine because of irritation.
You may have to shell out $5,000 to $7,000 for this procedure.
Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy
TREATMENT | Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy |
PROCEDURE | The surgeon makes a small puncture in your back where he guides a nephroscope to the kidney using small instruments to remove them through a tube. |
Bleeding, injury to blood vessels and infections |
RECOVERY | Up to 2 months |
COSTS | $11,000* + Prices vary |
Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy refers to the surgical kidney stone removal procedure wherein a small puncture of about 1 centimeter is made on your flank to guide a special scope to the kidney.
The surgeon then inserts a small instrument to break the stone into small pieces and remove them. You will be administered general or spinal anesthesia prior to the procedure.
This technique can be used to remove stones that are more than 2 centimeters in size, specifically staghorn stones.
If your doctor recommends this procedure for you, 7 – 10 days of hospitalization may be required.
Pain killers may be given to you to control any discomfort.
It will take about 2 months to completely recover after the surgery, though light physical activities can be resumed after a month.
The major advantage of percutaneous nephrolithotomy is that the surgeon removes some of the fragments directly instead of relying on their natural passage through the urine.
Some of the risks of undergoing this surgery include bleeding as a result of injury to blood vessels within the kidney, infections, injury to the colon and renal blood vessels and urinary leak that may persist for some days.
This procedure costs you approximately around $11,000.
Open Kidney Stone Surgery
TREATMENT | Open Kidney Stone Surgery |
PROCEDURE | The kidney stone is manually removed by the surgeon using a surgical procedure that opens up the kidney |
Severe bleeding, infection and damage to the kidney. |
RECOVERY | 4 – 6 weeks |
COSTS | 12,000* + Prices vary |
This method involves opening of the affected area in the operation theater in a hospital after administering anesthesia and removing the stones.
The surgeon unlocks the pelvis of the kidney or the ureter through the incision made on the skin to manually remove the stone.
Since it is a surgical procedure, you will need four to six weeks time to completely recover.
The success rate of open surgery for staghorn stones is between 90 – 95%.
The risks associated with open surgery to remove kidney stones include severe bleeding, risks related to anesthesia, infection, possibility of hernia at the point of incision for the surgery.
The risk of damaging the kidney at the time of the surgery cannot also be ruled out.
A part from these methods of kidney stone removal, many natural remedies for kidney stones are also available.
Kidney Stone Removal -Resource
Wikipedia – Kidney Stone


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Artist description:
Since today my birthday I want to eat lots of ice cream and won't care how I think about dieting at least today:)
Java Draw Created Jan 05, 2011 640 x 460px Unless noted Copyright 2011 A_B_A.
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That really looks yummy and great. 5/5 Thanks for creating this. I was trying to figure out recently how to draw ice cream too.
mmm looks really good! happy birthday! :3 great drawing btw its so realistic looking!

subset: commoncrawl


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Subject: | Re: Esmée's pronunciation and form |
Author: | Patrick (guest, 188.8.131.52) |
Date: | May 28, 2004 at 1:10:40 AM |
Reply to: | Re: Esmée's pronunciation and form by Devonelisa |
You are right, Aimée really sound as a name from the roaring twenties. It is a nice name: its pronunciation (in French) is quite mellifluous and it means "loved". Surprinsingly, these names are somehow going throught a revival amongst a certain population in France and I would not be surprised to see more of them (Clement, Grégoire, Antoine, Adrien, Claire, Julie, Valentine ...).
However René is more typical from the forties and fifties: I think it will have to wait for a few decades to become popular again (like André, Georges, Agnès...)
Because this message is archived you cannot respond to it. |
Messages in this thread: |


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Yes, I Believe Peyton Manning
The cynicism in Christine Brennan's USA Today article, "Should we believe in Peyton Manning?" is repulsive.
The Guardian proclaims Lloyd Marcus the Tea Party Movement's most prominent African American. An internationally renowned prolific writer, speaker, singer/songwriter and entertainer, Marcus is seen on Fox News, CNN and more. With 9 national bus tours on Tea Party Express, Marcus has performed his original song, "American Tea Party Anthem" at over 400 tea parties. Marcus is author of Confessions of a Black Conservative: How the Left has shattered the dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Black America. Marcus is Chairman of Conservative Campaign Committee,.
The cynicism in Christine Brennan's USA Today article, "Should we believe in Peyton Manning?" is repulsive.
On Sunday, MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry made the accusation that the word Obamacare is similar to using the n-word.
How many times must we see this movie before realizing that the ending never changes? Act one: An Obama Administration official is found to be incompetent, grossly negligent, or caught blatantly and arrogantly lying to the American people.
Patriots, I am boiling mad. Certain things should make you angry; a righteous anger. It does not mean I am out of control. The Good Book cautions, "be angry, but sin not."
I know we have bigger fish to fry, but I just can't let this go.
Ed Asner's explanation for Hollywood's silence regarding Obama attacking Syria epitomizes the absurdity and danger of political correctness and identity politics. Ironically, Hollywood progressives find themselves slaves of their own emotion driven brain-dead loon-icy. Hollywood along with Democrats and the mainstream media have declared all opposition or criticism of Obama racist. '
What? No angry black excess baggage? No chip on his shoulder, 'I achieved in spite of white America' rhetoric? Who the heck is this black kid and what planet did he come from?
My brother attended the red carpet premiere of his wife's first big screen acting role at a Baltimore movie theater. Forced to park blocks away in the hood, after the movie my brother asked a friend to drive him back to his car rather than risk walking.
This week bored teens shot and killed a jogger for the thrill of it. A teen purposely shot a 13-month old baby in the face during a robbery.
There were school buses parked for as far as my childhood eyes could see. Dad and I were amongst a sea of mostly black faces. The stage seemed a mile away from us. Black movie star Lena Horne took to the microphone. Her speech consisted of heartily yelling one word, but one that drove the crowd wild with delight and applause. "FRREEEDDDOOOOMMMM!!!"
Dad, 85, recently reminded me of an incident I had forgotten from when I was about 10 years old. We ordered ice cream at the diner near our home in a black Baltimore suburban community.
Folks, please follow me on this. As blacks are only 12% of the U.S. population, it is safe to say that white America has made Oprah a multi-millionaire. Oprah's claim to fame has been her ability to transcend race, which by the way, use to draw much criticism from blacks who questioned her racial loyalties.
In the late 1950s when dad broke the color barrier to become one of the first black Baltimore firefighters, it afforded my mother, father, and their four children funds to move out of the projects to a suburban black community.
Okay, so I am watching "Geraldo At Large." The topic is the epidemic of blacks killing blacks. On another program, it was said that 9,000 blacks are murdered each year – 93 percent by fellow blacks. Geraldo's guest, a black pundit, focused totally on indicting white America for not caring.


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Rockymount's SplitRail is a lightweight, expandable-platform hitch rack that carries up to four bicycles. Made of 6063 aluminum and chromoly steel, the SplitRail weighs a category-leading 44 pounds and features adjustable trays to allow optimal fit between loaded bikes.
- The SplitRail uses a ratcheting arm to secure bikes without contacting their frames. The system is fast and easy to use and works with almost any bike–including those with non-traditional frames. It accommodates bikes with wheel diameters between 20 and 29 inches, and tire widths of up to 3.2 inches.
- The SplitRail's bike trays can be laterally offset by four inches to avoid seat and handlebar interference, and it comes with an integrated cable lock system that allows each bike to be locked individually. A locking hitch pin (included) keeps the rack itself secured to the vehicle. It also features a wall mount for convenient home storage.
- The 2-inch receiver SplitRail carries two bikes/120 pounds standard, and expands with single bike add-on trays (sold separately) to handle three or four bikes. Its maximum weight capacity when carrying four bikes is 160 pounds, or 40 pounds per bike.
- The 1.25-inch receiver SplitRail carries a maximum of two bikes weighing up to 120 pounds, or 60 pounds per bike.
Option | Barcode | Manufacturer's Part Number | Vendor Number | Store SKU |
1.25-inch receiver | 00815189020288 | 1140 | QBP-AR1015 | ROC48722671K |
2-inch receiver | 00815189020295 | 1130 | QBP-AR8141 | CAR40533890K |


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Buildings Fishing Industry
Discussion in 'Buildings' started by BahadirB, Aug 31, 2015.


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10 School House Court Park Forest, IL 60466
10 School House Court is located in Park Forest, IL. At this time, the property has an estimated value of $88,600 and yearly taxes of $8,238. This condo has 2 bathrooms and approximately 1,094 sqft of living space. The property was built in 1999. Similar condos nearby have 2 baths and sell for around $90,000.
Check out Park Forest homes for sale, read the Park Forest real estate news or review the Park Forest real estate trends. Here is a summary of local market conditions over the past 30 days:
116 Homes for Sale
$59,950 Median List Price
127 Days on Market
4.6 Months Inventory
2 Bed, 2 Bath Condo
3 Bed, 2 Bath Condo
2 Bed, 1 Bath Condo
A child living at 10 School House Court, Park Forest, IL would typically attend Rich East Campus High School. School boundaries and attendance zones are updated frequently. This guidance should not be used to determine the legal eligibility to attend any particular school or school system.
Over the last 30 days, the Park Forest market showed gains with 21 homes sold. It marks a 5.0% increase from last week's report, while also topping the average sales volume for the prior 12 months. Wi... Read More »
Park Forest has a cost of living adjustment score of 86.8, which is average when compared to others in Illinois. Also, the area is considered affluent with a median income of $52,460 per household. Wi... Read More »
Home sales inched up to 19 homes sold over the last 30 days, providing a lift to the Park Forest market. That may continue, due to a three-week upward trend for contracts, with 39 in the same time fra... Read More »
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Stationary Guard
this wiki
Stationary Guard | |
Commander | |
Occupation |
Guarding and Maintaining the Wall |
Notable Members | |
Affiliation |
Humanity, Scouting Legion, Military Police |
The Stationary Guard is the largest of the Military divisions which protects and maintains order within the Walls. Given the fatality rate of the Scouting Legion and the limited entry of the Military Police, most soldiers join the Stationary Guard. As they often have close contact with both Titans and human civilians, they are proficient over a wide variety of tasks such as Titan combat (defensive battles), cannonading, security detail, crowd control, and rifle usage.
The Stationary Guard takes care of all defenses for the Wall, whether it be patrols, repairs, or improvements. As such, they spend much of their time preparing for attacks against the Wall. The Stationary Guard man the cannons on the Wall ledge, that is often used for long-range Titan assault. They must also deal with civilian evacuation and have emergency plans for dealing with scenarios where the Wall is breached.
Being the main fighting force of the 3DMG soldiers, the men and women of the Stationary Guard come from all backgrounds and views. Most are simply afraid of dying or unwilling to give their lives for what they believe to be foolish causes. The great deal of diversity also gives great talent to the Stationary Guard. Imaginative and magnetic men like Dot Pixis are present and successfully motivate their subordinates to do their duty.
Before the fall of Wall Maria due to the Titan's raid, the quality of the troops was lax, lazy, undisciplined and unreliable; only slightly better than the military police. All that changed after Wall Maria fell. Since then, the Stationary Guard has become innovative, tactical/strategic, diligent, disciplined, competent and purposeful. This branch is currently the second most reliable military branch along with the Scouting Legion.
The only case of members of the Stationary Guard coming into contact with Titans will come from a direct confrontation due to a breach in the Wall. As such, their tactics are intertwined with civilian evacuation and Titan defenses.
Special Colossal Titan StrategyEdit
In the case of a breach, the Stationary Guard must mobilize its men to confront the Titans coming in. If there is no way to block the breach, then the battle must be conducted to give enough time for all civilians in the town to escape. Upon the last civilians coming through, the gate will be closed and the district will be quarantined. It is only then, that all soldiers may escape to the safety of the Wall.
The soldiers will be arrayed to fight by skill level with soldiers increasing in skill level the closer to the evacuation point you come. The Front Guard is made of regular Stationary troops. The Middle Guard incorporates the more advanced trainers. Finally, the Rear Guard protect the base of the Wall with the elite Stationary Guard squads.
While this is going on, all attempts to stop outside Titans from entering the district short of fighting them with 3DMG will be used. This includes methods such as cannon bombardment and harpoon nets to stop Titans in their tracks by impaling them and preventing other Titans from coming through.
Outer Wall Breach Emergency PlanEdit
Because the Wall is so large, the Stationary Guard simply does not have the manpower to patrol every section. That is why districts are outcroppings of the Wall-to make Titan monitoring easier as they are naturally attracted to areas of concentrated humans. However, in Ch. 34 when the Wall is breached outside a town, this plan must be used.
The main priority of the Stationary Guard is to safely transport everyone into the next secure Wall. Failure to do so will isolate and eventually lead to the settlement being overrun. Meanwhile, the breach must be located in order to plan the next move.


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autopattr and m4l
According to the docs "The autopattr object cannot be used to batch-register objects with the Parameter system. You need to use individual pattr objects for this purpose." http://cycling74.com/docs/max5/vignettes/core/live_limitations.html
But, using the attached device it seems that autopattr works: try to save a few presets with the device and then save it as a Live preset. When you recall it you have all your presets back.
Is the autopattr limitation gone?
Hi Maurizio,
the limitation does still exist. There are two things:
a) there is a difference between the Live Parameter System and Max Presets. Live Parameters are those values that can be modulated from Live (in example from within a clip or via the Max Live-API from another Max For Live device). for standard max objects autopattr will still find the them and save the presets but the values of all non live.xxx ui objects won't be visible for Live. In order to expose them you will need individual pattr objects as mentioned in the docs.
b) the reason why your live.numboxes can be exposed as parameters to live is because all live.xxx ui objects have by default the ability to be exposed to Live as parameter to live. You can activate them by simply choosing a modulation type in the inspector. Definitions for the different Modulation type are described inside this tutorial:
(the paragraph entitled: There's more to modal modulation than Miles Davis)
In the Max for Live Menu under View->Parameters you will find an overview of the Live Parameters contained in a device. Thus it's not necessary to check all inspectors individually.
Cheers Jan
Hi Jan, thank you for your reply.
My question wasn't clear, sorry for that.
In this particular case I am not interested in modulating or automating the parameters, I am only interested in the possibility of saving a bunch of Max presets in a single Live device preset (the one you can save clicking on the tiny floppy icon in the upper right of the device window).
However you put me in the right direction: I misunderstood the docs, the pattr object is only necessary for registering the standard max objects with the parameter system, not to memorize and save Max presets.
Thank you
Forums > Max For Live


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Lot 4: Jadeite Jade Pendant Necklace 14K Gold Clasp
Asian, Modern, Fine & Decorative Art
by Showplace Antique & Design Center
January 27, 2013
New York, NY, USA
Live AuctionPast Lot
Looking for the realized and estimated price?
Description: Jadeite jade pendant with other stones: Baltic Sea amber zodiac carving of tiger and dog, green agate, aventurine quartz and picture jasper, with 14K gold clasp and original box; marked on gold. Dimensions: 20-1/2"L; 3"D x 3-1/4"W (pendant).
Condition Report: Inclusions to jade, good condition.


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Car Town Zooms into the Toy Aisle with GreenLight Collectibles
Cie Games Popular Facebook Game Has New Toy Line Premiering This Fall
Long Beach, Calif. (May 8, 2012) Cie Games, a successful social game developer and creator of the leading automotive-based Facebook game, Car Town, announced today a collaboration with GreenLight Collectibles, a premier manufacturer of high quality collectibles and specialty lines for INDYCAR and many others, to create and merchandise Car Town branded toy cars based on the popular game.
From Classic and Sporty to muscle cars -the toy line will feature something for every car enthusiast and Car Town fan. Some of the cars that will be released at launch include 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, 1970 Plymouth Superbird, 2003 Jeep Wrangler, and 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Car Towns creative game play features and Cie Games authentic approach to developing the vehicles and graphics within the game will translate very well to our new line of mini pull-back vehicles, commented Kevin Davey, Founder of GreenLight Collectibles. Our two-speed pull-backs will bring the cars featured in the game to life with vehicles that are fun to play with and collect. This marks the entrance of Cie Games into a new market and signals its crossover from social game to consumer products which a select few social games have managed to do. The extension into merchandising and consumer products will lend additional branding/licensing opportunities in the future, providing more presence of Car Town in the consumer marketplace and widening Car Towns existing customer base. We are thrilled to team up with GreenLight Collectibles which has worked with the biggest automotive brands and franchises to design the new toy line, said Dennis Suggs, President, Cie Games. The release of the toy line is a testament to the reach of the Car Town brand. With more than 40 million drivers rolling in since launch, Car Town is one of the most in-demand games available on Facebook. In Car Town, players can collect and customize virtual cars, build their dream garage and race against friends. Additional information on the toy line will be shared closer to the release scheduled for Fall 2012. For news and updates, check out www.cartown.com About Cie Games -Cie Games |
These 1:64 die-cast replicas feature detailed engines, real rubber tires, metal body and chassis, detailed graphics and production serialized numbering and are officially licensed by their respective auto manufacturers and entertainment titles. This release will be available through official GreenLight official hobby shops and wholesale dealers, as well as select mass retailers, including Toys 'R' Us and Meijer. For more information about GreenLight's up-coming releases or the other quality collectibles from GreenLight, visit www.greenlightcollectibles.com.
GreenLight® Collectibles is a premier manufacturer and marketer of officially licensed, authentic die-cast replica vehicles. GreenLight die-cast replicas are available in 1:18, 1:24 and 1:64 scale and are officially licensed by General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, Carroll Shelby Licensing, Barrett-Jackson Auction Company, Grand-Am Road Racing Association, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Bridgestone Americas.
Public Relations Contact: Tiffany Collins | GreenLight Collectibles | Marketing & EDI | 2605 East 55th Place | Indianapolis, IN 46220 USA | p. 1.317.287.0600 Ext. 108 | f. 1.317.205.3501


text: News Peter Fray to lead AAP project offering syndicated freelance copy October 5, 2012 10:58 by Tim Burrowes 2 Australian news agency AAP is to launch a service offering freelancers' work to its subscribers in a project being led by former Sydney Morning Herald editor-in-chief Peter Fray AAP Newswire Exclusive will offer "an extensive roster of high calibre writers and columnists," the organisation says. Fray will lead the recruitment proces. Fray left the SMH in June as Fairfax media's restructure got underway. A spokesman for AAP told Mumbrella that fees for freelancers involved in the project are still to be settled. The organisation has approached journalists' union the Media Alliance to keep it informed of the project. The new offering will pay selected freelances to write a 250 word synopsis of a potential article. If a client then commissions it, the freelance receives a further payment based on a word rate, which is yet to be set. Work will be sold to clients either exclusive to a single market or across multiple markets. The spokesman said: "Peter Fray is coming on board with us as a consultant and will be involved in the recruitment process." The timing of the move comes as hundreds of journalists find themselves starting out on freelance careers following redundancies at Fairfax media and News Limited. AAP editor-in-chief Tony Gillies said in a press release: "We believe there is considerable demand among our media clients for quality content from freelance journalists. This service will provide our clients with a single point of contact to access the freelance and contributor market and will offer a broad mix of features and columns." The statement said that AAP is already recruiting writers and columnists across topics including sport, business, lifestyle, personal finance, entertainment and opinion. The service is set to launch at the end of the month. AAP's major shareholders are News Limited and Fairfax Media. ADVERTISEMENT


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In 'Hara-Kiri,' seeking justice, the samurai way
Things have gotten so bad in 17th-century Japan that some samurai are resorting to a truly dishonorable (if also rather crafty) trick: the suicide bluff. A samurai with no master to serve has not only lost his means of support; he's lost his purpose in life. So he should commit ritual self-disembowelment, or hara-kiri. There's a twist to this, however. Committing the act at the house of a noble lord enhances the deceased's status. "The greater the house where he dies, the more honor he regains," explains one warrior to another in "Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai," Takashi Miike's remake of the 1962 film "Harakiri," based on Yasuhiko Takiguchi's novel.
Yet what nobleman wants some down-at-the-heels samurai spilling his guts (literally) in the nobleman's courtyard? So once the unemployed samurai has announced his intentions, chances are good that the master of the household will offer a few coins to get him to go away. The suicide bluff, in other words, is a form of extortion.
It's also a faintly comic premise (if not so faintly grim). You can imagine the fun Monty Python, say, could have had with it. Any humor attached to the premise disappears, though, should the bluff be called. What happens if the master refuses to pay? The samurai's code of conduct requires that he go through with the suicide or lose all honor. You don't have to know much about samurai to know which way even the least devoted of them is going to go when the choice is between death and dishonor.
The astoundingly prolific Miike's previous film, "13 Assassins," was also a samurai picture (set in the 19th century). Clearly, Miike's at home in the genre — just how clearly the first section of "Hara-Kiri" makes plain. It's superb filmmaking, uncluttered and utterly assured. Miike places us in the household of Li, offering up rich, deep colors, with an almost painterly exploration of fields of depth and volume.
The arrival of Motome (Eita), an impoverished samurai seeking permission to commit hara-kiri, initiates a set piece that's both impressive and quite gruesome. A year later another samurai, Hanshiro (Ebizô Ichikawa), arrives for the same purpose. Except that certain things aren't the same. What's happened to the three samurai who insisted that their lord not let Motome back out of his request? Is there a connection between Hanshiro and Motome?
The next section of "Hara-Kiri," an extended flashback, answers the second question. We meet Motome as a child. The son of a samurai, he's raised by another when his father dies. He marries his stepfather's daughter, Miho (Hikari Mitsushima), and they have a child. We see the circumstances that bring him to the Li courtyard. After the all-male stylization of the film's first section (no wonder the samurai genre continues to thrive: Is there a more inherently theatrical warrior tradition?), the domestic interlude feels a bit soggy, even formulaic.
The final section returns us to Hanshiro in the Li courtyard. Domestic melodrama (of sorts) now becomes full-blown revenge tale. Serious swordplay ensues. Miike seems at home again — too much so, perhaps. Ichikawa has not a little of the ferocious magnificence of Toshiro Mifune, but even Mifune would have been challenged to match Hanshiro's prodigies of bladework (with a bamboo sword, no less). Miike can't seem to get enough of Hanshiro's heroics. That's not just visual excess, though. The director wants to make a larger point about his righteousness and how artificial the idea of "honor" in the samurai code is when contrasted with life's realities.
Hanshiro's ability to hold off the forces of the House of Li may seem preposterous, but no less so at times than the subtitles. Did 17th-century Japanese warlords really use a command like "Slice him"?


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HEMPSTEAD, New York — Barack Obama turned his administration's worst foreign policy disaster into a dramatic victory in Tuesday's debate when Mitt Romney sought to stretch the criticism of the Obama Administration's handling of the incident.
Romney's criticism of Obama's handling of the crisis met a stern lecture from Obama about politicizing the tragedy; and when Obama said he'd called the incident an act of terror from the start, Romney thought he saw an opening.
The Republican attacked Obama for, he said, calling the attack on Benghazi a terrorist attack until two weeks later, only to be interrupted — and corrected — brusquely moderator Candy Crowley, who noted that Obama had used the phrase "acts of terror" in the Rose Garden immediately after the attack.
Republicans later argued that he hadn't specifically applied the phrase to Libya.
"Both the president and the moderator were wrong, said Romney aide Ron Kaufman.
And Republicans signaled they planned to keep fighting over the quote Wednesday.
"He never called it an act of terrorism," said Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer, who conceded that Romney's answer "might be a bit confusing" for people who weren't paying close attention.
"We will be forcefully making sure that the timeline is accurately communicated," he said. "We hope more will come out tomorrow and the media will do its job"
But Democrats welcomed that argument, and the press seems unlikely to give Romney much more leeway than Crowley did on contesting a fairly clear transcript of a presidential event. Obama was in the Rose Garden to speak about Libya, and the context of the quote is not ambiguous — though the broader Republican complaint that the Administration at first labeled the attack the result of a spontaneous protest is accurate.
"When even the moderator fact checks you in front of the audience you, know you've stepped over the line," said Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, an Obama surrogate.
The blunder — the one moment Tuesday when a candidate seemed genuinely rattled — may have been the product of, if anything, overpreparation.
For weeks, Romney aides have been talking about Libya as a growing issue that would undermine Obama's lead with voters on foreign policy.
"I'm telling you," a top Romney aide told BuzzFeed last week, "Obama can't defend the cover-up."
But it was Romney who couldn't defend a patently false attack, and couldn't navigate to safe ground.
Democrats were so confident in the performance that even before the debate was over they marched in their surrogates in dramatic fashion, answering questions while Romney and Obama answered their final questions.
"We saw a rattled mitt Romney tonight," gloated Obama press secretary Jen Psaki, who called his performance on Libya an "unmitigated disaster. "He doesn't have a bit of credibility on foreign policy issues."
- Donald Trump, who wrote a book about his ability to get deals done, lost in his highest stakes negotiation yet — the battered GOP health care bill.
- A viral Instagram post falsely claimed 14 black girls went missing over 24 hours in Washington, DC, but that doesn't mean there isn't a problem. Now lawmakers are taking action.
- Apple says a hacking group that's threatening to wipe hundreds of millions of iPhones has not breached its iCloud system 📱
- Hi Stranger: A bizarre short film featuring a naked mumbling figurine is making everyone on the internet uncomfortable 🙃


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DUNCAN® Yo-Yo!
- Publisher: PosiMotion
- Genre: Strategy
- Released: 8 Jul, 2009
- Size: 11.7 MB
- Price: $0.99
- App Store Info
The World's First 3D Virtual Yo-Yo!NOW THE OFFICIAL DUNCAN® Yo-Yo!
-Official Duncan® Yo-Yo Models and Styles
-Now 35 Different Variations of Yo-Yo Models
-Added Vibration
-Enhanced User Guide (How to Play)
-Improved Performance and Playability
Are you tired of always getting your Yo-Yo taken away from you at school? Well, now you can play with your Yo-Yo anytime, right on your iPhone or iPod touch!!!
Use the device's accelerometer to keep the Yo-Yo level as you throw down and pull up the YoYo!
-18 Variations of Yo-Yo Models
-3 Immersive 3D Levels
-Realistic Accelerometer Controls
-Intuitive swipe-to-wind the Yo-Yo
-3 Perfect throws sets the Yo-Yo on Fire!
-Fun Soundtrack and Sound Effects
-Practice Mode
-Scoreboard with Stats
This challenging and addicting game also keeps track of your high scores, so challenge your friends with your Yo-Yo skills! Remember that precision, speed, and power are the key to getting the highest scores possible...
Can you become the YoYo! Master?
PosiMotion's G-Park FEATURED on 12 international Apple iPhone commercials!
PosiMotion apps featured in:
-Staff Favorites
-What's Hot
-USA Today
-Orlando Sentinel
-NY Times
-Engadget, TUAW, CNET, and many more!
**Check out our other apps and games**
-Domino Clock
-Neon Pad
-Audio Flashlight for iPhone 4
-Lit Vanity Mirror
-A Level
-Apache Lander
-Solitaire Top 3
What's New in Version 1.1
-Official Duncan® Yo-Yo Models and Styles-Now 35 Different Variations of Yo-Yo Models
-Added Vibration
-Enhanced User Guide (How to Play)
-Improved Performance and Playability


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Status: Available | Condition: New | Edition:Limited Edition Hand Deckled Giclee On Paper | Edition Size: Limited Edition of 195 | Dim:25 x 12 | Toby Bluth| Item #: CEMICBEAN
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Mickey and the BeanstalkHand Deckled Giclee On Paper by Toby Bluth is a Limited Edition production by the Artist. Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity which affirms that this is an authentic Limited Edition production from Toby Bluth. This Limited Edition is Signed and Numbered by the artist.
Walt Disney was a man who had an amazing ability to inspire other people to remarkable creative achievements. Toby Bluth happens to be one of those shining gems of talent that to this day draws inspiration from the life and work of Walt Disney. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs then continuing with Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi, the first five feature length films to come out of Walt Disney Studios, according to Bluth, are the five gems in the crown of animation s royal history. Just as those five films marked Walt s grand entrance into feature length storytelling they, quite appropriately, set the stage for the first five limited edition giclées in Bluth s Disney Fine Art portfolio. Infused with all the depth, texture and richness of Toby s original watercolors these fine prints will be enjoyed for generations, very much in the spirit of the timeless classics that inspired them. Technique and approach "Creating the moment that you think you saw…" is how Toby Bluth describes his approach in conceiving each one of his watercolor masterpieces. Believing that how one remembers a film is often different from the actual film itself, Toby paints what he perceives as the collective memory of a film experience and taps into the emotional essence of the story. Inspired by the work of legendary illustrator Gustaf Tengrenn, whom Walt Disney recruited to work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bluth is passionate about his craft. A multifaceted artist, Toby s creative endeavors do not end at the tip of his brush. He is an accomplished writer, director, designer and a veteran of the American musical stage, having performed and or directed in nearly one hundred musicals, both on Broadway and beyond. Most recently he served as Art Director for The Walt Disney Studios production of The Three Musketeers, having already served in that position for the animated feature film The Tigger Movie.


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Artist description:
well, im kinda having probs intering drawchat now so expect me to draw boring things,oh, and thx to my friend 'anna ver dar linde' for giving me the idea, TY ANNA
Flash Draw Created Aug 05, 2008 470 x 338px Unless noted Copyright 2008 blue-rose-91.
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yeah i mite be better then her haha but still...its gotten out of hand and know she watches me like a HAWK.
GREAT DRAW! 3 5x's!! Love dragons, love tribal tattoo's!I just started RMD. Could you take a look at my drawings, tell me how I'm doing? There's 2 animations in there! :)
I love abstract art! That drawing is very good. Could you please rate and comment some of my drawings please???


text: Can one person change the world? I believe so. My dream is to make the world a happier and healthier place, one person at a time. If every day I could make a living walking around and telling people what is so great about them, I would. Seeing a person's face light up after being given a compliment makes me feel like I have been complimented too. The people in this world really need to know just how great they are, and I would honestly love making a living giving that kind of validation. Because that path of life is not something one can make a living out of, I chose a different path. I decided on pursuing a career in nursing. Through a profession of nursing, I believe that I will be able to touch hearts and minds every day. Nurses come in contact with many patients every day, some recovering from routine surgeries and some on their deathbeds. Hospitals can be a dark place, but I feel that the faculty, especially nurses, can make all the difference in the world. Whether I discover the cause of someone's infection or just provoke a smile, I feel that I can help people. In order to make this world a better place, the people have to be better. I would like to make that happen.


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Jamie Osborne walks about 1,072 miles a year.
Over the course of her 18-year career with the Eminence Post Office, she has walked nearly 34,000 miles. Her daily route is somewhere between six and seven miles long.
Needless to say, Osborne is in pretty good physical shape.
"The hardest part is the weather," she said. Osborne can't even count the number of times she has fallen on snow and ice, but she has never, ever broken a bone.
The City of Campbellsburg is offering a $5,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a series of arsons in the city.
The city has experienced a variety of unsolved fires since April 2009, when the city's fire department was severely damaged in a fire. The cause was later ruled to be arson, and has been identified as the potential first in a string of incidents.
On Sunday, April 17, Eminence Christian Church hosted a community Easter egg hunt, where Sullivan Fitzgerald (above) scrambled for plastic eggs. But don't be sad if you and your little ones missed it — there are more egg hunting opportunities for the kiddos, along with Easter worship opportunities. Check out Local Buzz's Church Events listing for more information, and page A6 for more pictures from Sunday's event!
Since the mid 1980s, Karen Taylor has had five back surgeries. She was diagnosed, initially, with degenerative disc disease when her back problems first appeared.
But over time, the pain she experienced moved. "It just started spreading, I kept having more pain in more places," she said.
It's the latest trend to sweep the region's small cities: city provided Wi-Fi access. And it's coming to Campbellsburg.
And doing so will only cost the city about $2,200 to get started.
Brent Graves, owner of PoweredOn in Carrollton, said the city could set up a Wi-Fi system for residents utilizing just two broadcasting antenna, one of which would be located at City Hall.
Submitted by Dr. Michael J. Rieser On behalf of the Ridge Behavioral Health System
Winning its first three games of the season and adding a forfeit win, the perfect 4-0 start for the Eminence softball team might be the best opening stretch of games in program history.
It was no joke. When Shiven Harris signed to play football for Kentucky Wesleyan College on April Fool's Day, Eminence High School got its first football signing in almost 10 years.
There have been others from EHS who have, and continue to play football at the next level — notably Zach Young at Eastern Kentucky University and Ed Berry at the University of Kentucky — but Harris becomes the first to actually sign a letter of intent to play for a college since Marcus Wright signed with Kentucky State University in 2002.


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(4151 quotes found)
"There would be no passion in this world if we never had to fight for what we love."
Susie Switzer
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
Mark Twain
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig, you get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it."
George Bernard Shaw
"I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies in a fight. But my friends, my goddamned friends, they're the ones who keep me walking the floor at nights!"
Warren G. Harding
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
Friedrich Nietzsche
"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."
Nathanael Greene
"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity"
George Carlin
"I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight."
General George S. Patton
"The hardest battle you're ever going to fight is the battle to be just you."
Leo F. Buscaglia
"Why am I fighting to live, if I'm just living to fightWhy am I trying to see, when there aint nothing in sightWhy am I trying to give, when no one gives me a tryWhy am I dying to live, if I'm just living to die?someone tell me y"
Tupac Shakur


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Depeche Mode — bleeding black hearts upon their sleeves
English alt-rock band gets in the Spirit of the times
Andrew Perez 1 p.m., March 24
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Influences: John Zorn, Steve Mackey, Frank Zappa
Guitarist Derek Keller earned a Ph. D. in composition from UCSD, befored being signed in 2004 to experimental bandleader John Zorn's Tzadik Record label. As of 2010, Keller lives in Sacramento.
In 2011, he debuted his historical opera California Tableaux, which he calls "a kaleidoscopic look at California's cultural mixtures, from the era of Sir Francis Drake and his alleged landing on the Marin County coast in the late 1570s, to our most contemporary era." The topical score tackles subjects like illegal immigration and border patrol policies.


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News Release
American Idol, move over
It seems like everyone loves a talent competition these days. In August, youth and adults with developmental disabilities took turns in the spotlight at the Highland Community Center for "Highland Has Great Talent."
"I was kind of nervous ... but not really," said Sarah Jones, who played Rachmaninoff's "Prelude in C Sharp Minor" on piano. "I was enjoying myself."
The Highland talent show is one of several events featured in this month's "It's Your City" television show.
Other stories include:
Return to News Release Index
Communications 450 110th Ave. NE P.O. Box 90012 Bellevue, WA 98009 Contact: Lenka Wright, Chief Communications Officer Phone: 425-452-4090 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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It started as a whisper. A slight smell in the air, a hint of cold in the morning. Really, it gave me plenty of warning but I chose to ignore it, not wanting to admit that summer was coming to a close. There's no ignoring it now though. Every leaf in town exclaims, "Fall!"
Fall is actually my favorite time of year in Colorado. Cool nights give way to warm afternoons that continually re-define the term "bluebird day." Trails are tacky and can be ridden without an agenda since most major races are behind me. Yet there is still a certain urgency in the air. Knowing that in a few weeks it may snow and put an end to mountain biking for months is all the motivation one needs to get out the door.
The team spent several days last week in Las Vegas at Interbike and now are beginning to turn their focus to cyclocross and the final mtb race of the year, Iceman.


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Joyful Food Market: Excel Academy
April 12 @ 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
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At a Joyful Food Market, students and families shop through a pop-up market for fresh, healthy groceries at no cost. Come volunteer in your neighborhood!
Please consider our "Adopt a Market" program for ongoing volunteer partnerships!


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Beware the easy early laughs of "The Boys Room," a new play by Joel Drake Johnson at Victory Gardens Theater.
Beware the easy early laughs of "The Boys Room," a new play by Joel Drake Johnson at Victory Gardens Theater. Chicagoans who have experienced some of Johnson's earlier work – particularly his excellent and still underproduced "Four Places" — know that he is drawn to awfully dark aspects of humanity. When his newest work finally fully goes to that dark place and confronts the blatant cowardice of his central character, it feels alive. But the potential for poignant power has been sedated by the earlier silliness.
The high-concept quality of Johnson's premise is that Ron (Joe Dempsey), a middle-aged dentist with a wife and 16-year-old daughter, decides to move back in with his mother, Susan (Mary Ann Thebus). And he's not the first of Susan's two boys to do so; Ron will need to share his boyhood room with his brother, Tim (Steve Key). They're both in full escape mode from unsatisfying lives, and Ron even admits to running away from a most basic responsibility and contemplating suicide. But for much of the first half of this 90-minute play, Johnson, and director Sandy Shinner allow themselves to revel in the comic possibilities of grown men reverting to childishness, like fighting over who gets which bed. When Ron's daughter, Roann (Allison Torem), comes to try and bring him back home, the situation finally begins to feel real, its consequences human and painful. And by the end, Johnson craftily exposes a history that makes surprising sense, transforming the premise from a joke into a psychological trauma. Up-and-comer Torem and stage veteran Thebus deserve great credit for keeping the play grounded enough in convincing feelings to make this ending affecting – they both give outstanding performances. Still, Johnson and Shinner and even Dempsey, who by nature seems a comic actor, simply go too far in making Ron pathetic and making us laugh about it, to turn the play emotionally on its head. The effect is disorienting and not to be dismissed, but when "The Boys Room" needs to operate at full emotional force, it just can't get there.The Boys Room
Victory Gardens Theater at the Biograph, Chicago; 299 seats; $50 top
A Victory Gardens Theater presentation of a play in one act by Joel Drake Johnson. Directed by Sandy Shinner.
Set, Jeffrey Bauer; costumes, Carol J. Blanchard; lighting, Todd Hensley; sound, Andre Pluess; production stage manager, Tina M. Jach. Opened, reviewed Jan. 31, 2011; runs through Feb. 20. Running time: 90 MIN.
Ron - Joe Dempsey
Tim - Steve Key
Susan - Mary Ann Thebus
Roann - Allison Torem
Tim - Steve Key
Susan - Mary Ann Thebus
Roann - Allison Torem


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This richly textured natural rock allows you to create beautiful underwater scenes quickly and easily in your aquarium. The rock named Seiryu in Japanese looks especially stunning in combination with water plants. The unique shape of each individual rock provides endless possibilities for creative construction take your inspiration from the striking and elegant natural shapes of this extraordinary natural material. No matter what you decide to construct bridges steep cliffs dark caves or a Japanese Iwagumi layout your imagination can run wild with these great value sets. The sets include a mixture of different sized rocks suitable for each volume of aquarium. Please note As this is a natural product every article delivered will be unique and will therefore differ slightly from the pictures displayed here. The Mini Landscape Seiryu Rocks will cause the water in your aquarium to become slightly harder so depending on the plant and animal life in your aquarium it may be necessary to add softer water to your tank (e.g. osmosis water). zooplus tip! Decorate and plant your aquarium before adding water! Its easier allows you to work more cleanly and freely and gives you a better end result. Just be sure to keep your plants damp using a water sprayer. The Mini Landscape Seiryu Rock at a glance A classic rock for building natural underwater landscapes Great naturally structured stone for stable constructions Ideal for natural Amano-style aquarium decoration Small medium and large sized stones make it easy to build many different formations Available in practical sets (60 cm 80 cm 100 cm 120 cm) specially designed for your size of aquarium! Set Details 60 cm Set 80 cm Set 100 cm Set 120 cm Set Aquarium size in litres (approx.) 54 - 84 litres 72 - 128 litres 160 - 250 litres 192 - 400 litres Rocks in set 1xL / 3xM / 5xS 1xL / 5xM / 5xS
Check stock and price


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Cygnus X-1
A Farewell to Kings
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Cygnus X-1 by Rush Songfacts
Cygnus X-1 is the name given to an X-ray source in the constellation of Cygnus, believed to be a black hole.
Suggestion credit
Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington
In Greek mythology, Rocinante is the name of the horse that Zeus rides. It was also the name of Steinbeck's motor home in
Travels With Charlie
, as well as the name of Don Quixote's horse.
Suggestion credit
Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington
This is a two-part song, with part 1 appearing on
A Farewell To Kings
and part 2 appearing on
. The two individual parts are only tenuously connected.
Suggestion credit
Jeff - Haltom City, TX
Part 1 was split into these different sections: The Voyage: I. Prologue / II. / III. Book 2 was divided into these sections: Hemispheres: I. Prelude / II. Apollo: Bringer Of Wisdom / III. Dionysus: Bringer Of Love / IV. Armageddon: The Battle Of Heart And Mind / V. Cygnus: Bringer Of Balance / VI. The Sphere: A Kind Of Dream.
Suggestion credit
Gary - Gaston, SC
More songs from Rush
More songs with celestial titles
More songs with other parts
More songs about space
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Comments: 22
Geddy is far superior to any other singer that has ever existed in this universe
Erik - York , Pa
At the end, :every nerve is torn apart," it sounds as though Geddy Lee is jamming a helium compressor into his six-mile long nose and then using the exess gas t6o inflate his skull and then jam a bagpipe down his throat whilst exhaling
Rowan - Brattleboro, United Kingdom
You guys are gonna hate me for this, but I always cringe a bit when I hear Geddy at the end of this song. In my opinion, not his best moment. Sorry 'bout that. And by the way, once again, IMHO, his best is when he hits the high notes in Freewill.
Claude - Kingston, Ma
Awesome song, one of their best
Josh - Grand Rapids, Mi
Certainly if I wanted to record a version of this, I would have two choices:
(1) Sing the final two lines a major second or so lower, then adjust upwards on the computer. This would still require a top G# so I'd need to have someone in the studio to administer an Indian burn or something. Since this would come at great expense to my welfare, the other solution would be to...
(2) ask a woman to guest-star on the song. Whether any of my female acquaintances would WANT to do that is a moot point.
Michael - Oxford, -
I agree with Brad and David about the vocals. This is the one song I've heard on which a male vocalist hits a note that I can't (voluntarily at least). But how do we know it's not a sped-up tape or something?
Michael - Oxford, -
I like the intro to this song...and bits and pieces of it...but it's not a favorite epic of mine, nor is it any where nearly as tight-knit as Hemispheres.
John - Asheville, Nc
Funny thing about Cygnus X-1; it was the subject of a bet between Stephen Hawkings and a fellow astrophysicist - that if the x-ray anomaly was actually a black hole, Hawkings would buy the other guy a year's subscription to Penthouse. Hawkings lost the bet, much to the horror of the wife of the winning scientist.
Don - Franklin, Ma
Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater was in a rush tribute band called cygnus and sea monsters...
Jason - Boston, Ma
Man, I love Neil's work as a lyricist. He's inspired me to open my mind and look for a more creative and metaphorical view to my lyrics.
Daniel - Perth, Australia
"Every vocal cord is torn apaaaarrrrrrrtttttttt!!!!!" (cough, cough, effing OUCH!!!!)
Brad - Chicago, Il
Rumor has it that Terry Brown performed the spoken introduction.
Kent Lyle - Cincinnati, Oh
You shouldnt get ur mythology from disney movies. Pegasus was a winged-horse tamed by Bellerophron and when he tried to take over olympus pegasus threw his rider to death and then the winged horse became the bearer of Zeus' thunderbolts. Now, as far as i know neil has only referenced Steinbeck and Don Quioxte wehn talking about the Rocinante. I love this band and this album.
Aaron - Williamstown, Ma
Part 1 was split into these different sections: The Voyage: I. Prologue / II. / III.
Part 2 was split up as such: Hemispheres: I. Prelude / II. Apollo: Bringer Of Wisdom / III. Dionysus: Bringer Of Love / IV. Armageddon: The Battle Of Heart And Mind / V. Cygnus: Bringer Of Balance / VI. The Sphere: A Kind Of Dream
Gary - Gaston, Sc
Pegasus was not Zeus' horse. Pegasus was Hercules' horse. Zeus gave it to Hercules when both Hercules and Pegasus were infants.
Taylor - Sioux Falls, Sd
I got this album 'A Farewell to Kings' when it first came out, listened to this song over, and over, again. It shows Neil Peart's fertile imagination, telling the story of what it would be like to fly a spaceship into a black hole. The result is summed up by Geddy Lee, singing in impossibly high notes, "Every nerve is torn apart".
David - Flagstaff, Az
Near the end of the song, as the ship is being sucked into the black hole, a Church Bell can be heard...the bells of a Church back home ringing because back home, they think the guy's lost in space or dead...spooky...
Anthony - New Haven, Ct
Actually, as far as my sources state, there is very little reference to Zeus actually having a mount. Pegasus was NOT Zeus' mount, but rather the first of the winged horses, who was known to help the great heroes of greek myhthology (Heracles, Achilles, etc.) "Rocinante" was indeed first used as the name of Don Quixote's horse, and it does mean "formerly a nag."
Allen - Coquitlam, Canada
Its "obsessed", and its Neil Peart, not "neal." Also its "inspiration."
Yeah this is a hell of a good song.
Mike - Philadelphia, Pa
Love this song. The bass part that fades in is so cooooooooooool...
Jesse - L.a., Ca
I am absest with rush and i am a guitar/bass/drummer/songwriter and neal inspries me so much let alone this song and a bunch of other rush songs Rush is my insperation for everything i owe my life to them
Rick - Round Lake , Il
Rocinante is NOT the name of a horse that Zeus rides. I know Neil Peart stated this in some interview somewhere, but quite simply Neil either misspoke or was just plain wrong. So far as I can tell from mythological references, Zeus's horse was Pegasus.
Rocinante originates in Don Quixote and roughly translates to "Formerly a Nag;" since his horse "was" a nag (an inferior horse), but is now his battle steed.
Pj - Morristown, Nj
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Metro Boston poured the perfect pint of Guinness on Thursday night, winning $2,000 for The Leary Firefighters Foundation.
Local media competed against one another during the "Pour the Perfect Pint" competition. Judges based the winner on pouring technique and presentation.
The $2,000 grant will help local fire departments stock equipment and deliver training.
The contest kicked off a month-long partnership between Guinness and the Leary Firefighters Foundation to honor, recognize and support local fire fighters who continually put their lives on the line for others.
See more photos from the competition below:


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Water and farmland need protecting
Editor: With all the well-articulated and compelling arguments against developing the Wall property that were made in January, I am very disappointed that this issue is coming before Langley Township council yet again.
There are many reasons to reject the proposal. As council members know, there is an urgent need to protect our sources of water, arable land and green spaces.
I recognize that council members feel obliged to represent developers, as well as members of the public. However, if council says yes to this development, it will be much harder to say no when other under-utilized agricultural properties come up for similar consideration.
The land being offered up for the endowment in this proposal can't be used for farming or housing. The owner of the property should see this riparian zone, as many owners all along the Salmon River do, as valuable fish and wildlife habitat, not a bargaining chip.
I urge council members to adhere to Metro Vancouver's Regional Growth Strategy and reject this spot-zoning application.
It is difficult, but important, to think in the long term. The Township deserves great respect for the vital role it will play in feeding the citizens of Metro Vancouver in the near future. We will be the bread basket of the Lower Mainland.
Vancouverites will have to appreciate the thoughtful council members in the Township of Langley who stood up to developers' pressure, in favour of protecting our food sources and green spaces.
Leslie Dyson,


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NOTHING SAYS "home sweet home" after days of being on the road like the aroma of your favorite comfort food as you come through the door.
And for Mandy Anderson's hard-driving husband, Chris, that food is the hearty and delicious meat-cheese-and-stuffing casserole she calls "Zucchini Supper."
25 Healthy Zucchini Recipes
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound bulk pork sausage
- 4 cups chopped zucchini
- 1 pound process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
- 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
- 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
- 1 package (6 ounces) stuffing mix
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- In a Dutch oven, cook beef and sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
- Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°. Uncover and stir. Bake 4-6 minutes longer or until golden brown. Yield: 8 servings.
Originally published as Zucchini Supper in Light & Tasty
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During the most recent PASS Summit in Seattle I attended a handful of sessions from some of the legends in the SQL Community. One talk was by Paul Randal on logging and recovery where he spent time discussing virtual log files (VLFs) and how you should be mindful of them and their performance implications. Another talk was by Buck Woody: He was showing off a handful of new features in SQL 2008 and he quickly demonstrated a PowerShell script that populated an Excel chart to quickly give a visual representation of the row count in your database tables.
About a week later I found myself wondering if there was a way to incorporate both of those ideas into something slightly novel: I wanted to create a report to quickly display the current state of the number of virtual log files for every database I administer on a particular instance.
Why the interest in VLFs? In MS SQL Server, your transaction log may look like one file on disk, but inside that file there exist these virtual log files, splitting your physical file into virtual chunks. For an example of this, run the following:
1 |
The output will be the number of VLFs for the current database. You can see the size of the virtual chunks, the sequence number, the status, and even some LSN information. For a wonderful discussion on VLFs and transaction log throughput see Kimberly L. Tripp's blog post at http://www.sqlskills.com/BLOGS/KIMBERLY/post/8-Steps-to-better-Transaction-Log-throughput.aspx.
Getting details on the number of VLFs for your database is an easy way for you to quickly tune a piece of your environment. Knowing this could be a "quick win" I set out to gather metrics so that I could form a plan of action.
Gathering the Details
In the past, when I have wanted to find out details about all of my servers I have resorted to running a multi-server query using a Central management Server. As good as this can be for me there are two drawbacks for me with the use of CMS. First, I can only select an entire group of servers; it is not possible for me to select a distinct subset of servers defined in the CMS. If I have the need for a query against such a subset then I need to define a new group, which can be tedious at best. Second, the results would need to be massaged manually should you want to put them into Excel (or something similar).
About a year ago I started to become romantically involved with Policy Based Management. Knowing that PBM could also be a possible solution I set about trying to configure a policy that would go out and capture information of all of the VLFs in our shop. It took me very little time to get the policy built and it worked very well. In a matter of a few minutes I was able to quickly see exactly what databases had more than 100 VLFs. The only problem I had was that it was very difficult for me to share this information with anyone else unless I invited them into my cube and showed them my screen after the policy was evaluated. Sure, I can save it as XML, but that was not very helpful. What I really wanted was what Buck Woody had; a bar chart graph in Excel.
Knowing the Buck had used PowerShell (POSH) in order to achieve those results I decided to roll up my sleeves and dive into POSH to see what I could accomplish. I wanted to keep things simple for now. My requirements were to create a report against a single instance that would display the top ten databases with more than 50 VLFs and display the results in a bar chart graph.
My First Time with POSH
After seeing Buck Woody perform his magic at PASS I asked him if he would post the details of his script to his blog (you can see the post at http://blogs.msdn.com/buckwoody/archive/2009/11/09/create-an-excel-graph-of-your-big-tables-with-powershell.aspx). I told him how his demo was inspiring me to create something similar for VLFs. So, I had an example to review to help me get started with POSH, but what next?
For me the next step was to download PowerGUI (http://www.powergui.org/index.jspa). I like having GUIs to interact with and would always prefer a GUI to working strictly through a command line. PowerGui also has a Script Editor which allows for me to have a quick syntax checker, a valuable tool for someone new to POSH such as myself. After downloading the tools I was ready to get started.
The first thing I needed to do was to figure out a way to get all the VLFs for the current instance. I tried to find VLF details inside of the POSH structure for a SQL instance but could not, so I had to find a way to get the job done in T-SQL and then use that inside of the POSH script. The only details I had were
I knew the DBCC command
I knew I needed to do this for each database independently, and …
I needed to limit my result set otherwise the graph in Excel would look congested.
The script I came up with is as follows:
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/*Create two temp tables, one for current db VLF and one for the total VLFs collected*/ CREATE TABLE #VLF_temp (FileID varchar(3), FileSize numeric(20,0), StartOffset bigint, FSeqNo bigint, Status char(1), Parity varchar(4), CreateLSN numeric(25,0)) CREATE TABLE #VLF_db_total_temp (name sysname, vlf_count int) /*Declare a cursor to loop through all current databases*/ DECLARE db_cursor CURSOR READ_ONLY FOR SELECT name FROM master.dbo.sysdatabases DECLARE @name sysname, @stmt varchar(40) OPEN db_cursor FETCH NEXT FROM db_cursor INTO @name WHILE (@@fetch_status <> -1) BEGIN IF (@@fetch_status <> -2) BEGIN /*insert the results into the first temp table*/ INSERT INTO #VLF_temp EXEC ('DBCC LOGINFO ([' + @name + ']) WITH NO_INFOMSGS') /*insert the db name and count into the second temp table*/ INSERT INTO #VLF_db_total_temp SELECT @name, COUNT(*) FROM #VLF_temp /*truncate the first table so we can get the count for the next db*/ TRUNCATE TABLE #VLF_temp END FETCH NEXT FROM db_cursor INTO @name END /*close and deallocate cursor*/ CLOSE db_cursor DEALLOCATE db_cursor /*we are only interested in the top ten rows because having more could look funky in an Excel graph*/ /*we are currently only interested in db's with more than 50 VLFs*/ SELECT TOP 10 @@servername as [ServerName], name as [DBName], vlf_count as [VLFCount] FROM #VLF_db_total_temp WHERE vlf_count > 50 ORDER BY vlf_count DESC /*drop the tables*/ DROP TABLE [#VLF_temp] DROP TABLE [#VLF_db_total_temp] |
The next thing I did was to modify Buck's script so that it would open a connection to a SQL Server. I did this so that in the future I would be able to easily pass a parameter to my script to have it connect to any instance I want. I could also pass in a parameter for the number of VLFs to check for, if I so desired.
The beginning of my POSH script now looked like this:
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# Number of VLFs to Excel Chart $SqlConnection = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection $SqlCmd = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand $SqlAdapter = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataAdapter $DataSet = New-Object System.Data.DataSet $SqlConnection.ConnectionString = "Server=$servername;Database=master;Integrated Security=True" |
Replace 'servername' with the name of your target server and the script should connect as long as you are running the script with credentials that can access the instance. The next part of the script defines the command text and populates a dataset:
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$SqlCmd.CommandText = " CREATE TABLE #VLF_temp (FileID varchar(3), FileSize numeric(20,0), StartOffset bigint, FSeqNo bigint, Status char(1), Parity varchar(4), CreateLSN numeric(25,0)) CREATE TABLE #VLF_db_total_temp (name sysname, vlf_count int) DECLARE db_cursor CURSOR READ_ONLY FOR SELECT name FROM master.dbo.sysdatabases DECLARE @name sysname, @stmt varchar(40) OPEN db_cursor FETCH NEXT FROM db_cursor INTO @name WHILE (@@fetch_status <> -1) BEGIN IF (@@fetch_status <> -2) BEGIN INSERT INTO #VLF_temp EXEC ('DBCC LOGINFO ([' + @name + ']) WITH NO_INFOMSGS') INSERT INTO #VLF_db_total_temp SELECT @name, COUNT(*) FROM #VLF_temp TRUNCATE TABLE #VLF_temp END FETCH NEXT FROM db_cursor INTO @name END CLOSE db_cursor DEALLOCATE db_cursor SELECT TOP 10 @@servername as [ServerName], name as [DBName], vlf_count as [VLFCount] FROM #VLF_db_total_temp WHERE vlf_count > 50 ORDER BY vlf_count DESC DROP TABLE [#VLF_temp] DROP TABLE [#VLF_db_total_temp] " $SqlCmd.Connection = $SqlConnection $SqlAdapter.SelectCommand = $SqlCmd $SqlAdapter.Fill($DataSet) $VLFCount =$DataSet.Tables[0] |
Now I wanted to change things up a bit from Buck's demo. I am no stranger to bars, but I like pie as well. I wanted to have Excel show the results in a pie chart. This took a little digging to find out how to get it to work, but it was not very difficult in the end.
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$range = $sheet.usedRange $range.EntireColumn.AutoFit() $workbook.charts.add() $workbook.ActiveChart.chartType = $chartType::xlPie $workbook.ActiveChart.SetSourceData($range) |
When you put the script together you will notice that, upon execution, the initial graph displayed is a bar graph which is then followed by the pie chart. It may take a few seconds for the pie to be displayed on your screen. And if you want to have more fun, then change ::xlPie to ::xl3DPieExploded and add the following lines to the end of the script:
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For($i = 15 ; $i -le 360 ; $i +=15) { $workbook.ActiveChart.rotation = $i } |
This will create a 3D exploded pie chart that rotates.
Action Plan
So, you have a report LISTING out the VLFs for the databases. What actions are you to take next? How do you go about correcting the issue? And I do not mean just correcting it at the moment, but correcting it so as to reduce the chances of it happening again?
Most of the time excessive VLF fragmentation is brought about by excessive file growth at small intervals. For example, a database that is set to grow a transaction log file by 5mb at a time is going to have a large number of VLFs should the log decide to grow. The following chart explains how many VLFs are added based upon the size of the growth.
Growth |
Number of VLFs created |
<= 64Mb |
4 |
>64 but <=1Gb |
8 |
>1Gb |
16 |
This means that if your log grew by 5Mb at a time, internally the physical log files would create four virtual log files, each 1.25Mb in size. Now, if your log grew by 100Mb at 5Mb at a time, you would have 80 VLFs, each at 1.25Mb in size. However, if you grew the log by 100Mb at a time instead of 5Mb, you would have created 8 VLFs each at 12.5Mb in size. Your VLFs would be ten times larger in size and you would have only grown your log file once instead of twenty times.
While you may not always know exactly how large your transaction log file should be, if you keep the above numbers in mind you can make a concerted effort to keep your VLF count to a minimum. Simply review the autogrowth settings for your transaction log and make certain it is sized appropriately.
If you come across a database with more than 50-100 VLFs then you should look to take action in order to increase the transaction log throughput. Kimberly Tripp does a great job of detailing what needs to be done in the above blog post and I will summarize again.
Backup your transaction log, even if you are in simple mode, in order to clear all activity.
123BACKUP LOG [AdventureWorks]TO DISK = N'G:\db.bak'GO -
Shrink the transaction log to as small as possible.
12345USE [AdventureWorks]GODBCC SHRINKFILE ('AdventureWorks_Log', TRUNCATEONLY)GO -
Alter the database to modify the size of the transaction log and configure your autogrowth, keeping in mind the above chart.
123456USE [master]GOALTER DATABASE [AdventureWorks]MODIFY FILE ( NAME = N'AdventureWorks_Log', SIZE = 1024000KB, FILEGROWTH = 1024000KB)GO
Good ideas come from anywhere at any time. They often sneak up on you when you least expect it and can be sitting in front of you without you even noticing they are there. Such is the case with VLFs and using POSH to build charts in Excel. I have known about POSH for years but never dived into just how useful it could be for me until I saw Paul and Buck at PASS last month. Sometimes it is a piece of info from here and there that allow for you to develop solutions that are customized for your needs at the time.
The idea that I can be using POSH to quickly create graphs that I can then use to give to my customers makes me excited to learn more about how I can utilize POSH in other ways. I find myself thinking about a lot of different ways I can incorporate POSH into just about everything I administer. Disk space usage, I/O throughput, missing indexes, just about anything I have a script for in my toolbox I could be putting into reports quickly for others to understand a little bit easier.
And then things should evolve from there.


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In recent releases, the Dreamcast's first RPG, Evolution, was released on the 16th of this month. The next day saw the release of NEC's Seventh Cross, which for some reason in the US has the subtitle of "Evolution", to confuse Dreamcast owners everywhere. And more recently, the strategy RPG Elemental Gimmick Gear, or EGG for short, was released for the DC on the 29th.
On the N64, things have been quiet, as usual, with the only recent release being Natsume's farm sim Harvest Moon 64, which just barely made Christmas when it arrived in stores on December 24th.
For the Playstation, THE system for RPGs in recent years, November 30th saw the release of Vandal Hearts II, Konami's sequel to Vandal Hearts (of course). From Square, Chocobo's Dungeon 2 was released early on the 21st. It was originally scheduled for January 11, but Square EA most likely wanted to get it out for Christmas.
The next few notable releases are Square's SaGa Frontier II for the Playstation, which seems to have addressed all of the problems with the first SF, and shows potential. SF2 is set for release on February 15. And on Dreamcast, we have Climax's Climax Landers. It's being brought to our shores by Sega, and will be called Time Stalkers. As it stands, TS will be released February 29.
Then later in the year we have a possible 4 to 5 Zelda games coming out for the N64, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. Chrono Cross, Dragon Quest VII, Parasite Eve 2, and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue should all be out in 2000 for the Playstation. In the fall, Game Boy Color will be graced with Pokemon Gold & Silver, the sequel to the first batch of Pokemon games. Considering the popularity of Pokemon, if you want this game, you may want to pre-purchase it soon... like tomorrow. :)
But again, since we have a few hours before the world is plunged into darkness for all eternity, I guess all of next year's releases don't matter, hm? :) But seriously, whatever happens, or doesn't happen, happens. I say just go with the flow. :P
Happy New Year everyone!
Oh, and if you're still alive come Saturday, celebrate by going here many times. :)
Date Updated:December 31st, 1999
Time Updated:1:32 AM
The Chronologist
Related Links: Release Dates Page - Go there!
Mass Effect: Andromeda Sunday, Mar. 26 • 10am PDT/1pm EDT
Shining Force Every Tuesday • 11am PDT/2pm EDT
Tales of Symphonia Every Wednesday • 5pm PDT/8pm EDT
Horizon Zero Dawn Every Thursday • 5pm PDT/8pm EDT


text: International News Australia: Genital Wart Infections Plunge Following Vaccine RolloutMay 8, 2009 Cases of genital warts at a large Australian health clinic have plunged in the 12 months since the introduction of the Gardasil vaccine. The three-shot series protects against human papillomavirus (HPV) strains that cause 90 percent of genital warts and 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. The Melbourne Sexual Health Center began to notice a decline in the number of cases of genital warts within six months of the vaccine's introduction there in mid-2007, said Professor Christopher Fairley, the clinic's director. The vaccine has also been distributed in Australia under the National Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Program since January 2008. The center reviewed about 36,000 new patient contacts dating back to 2004. The number of female center patients with genital warts under the age of 28 fell to about half, while the number of cases among heterosexual men has fallen about 20 percent, Fairley said. The decline among women is the direct result of the vaccine, while heterosexual men are seeing a drop in cases because they are not being infected by women, Fairley noted. Fairley said the drop in genital warts supports the idea that Gardasil eventually will bring about a reduction in cervical cancer cases. "The abnormalities that the vaccine protects against in the cervix take much longer to appear," he said. Fairley predicted that if the number of cases continues to drop by half each year, genital warts could eventually become a "historic phenomenon." "It won't take long and it's solely due to the vaccine," he said. Australian Associated Press 05.08.2009; Danny Rose This article was provided by CDC National Prevention Information Network. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.


text:
Dockworkers lockout yields domino effect
Clock ticks awayon perishables suchas grapes and onions
With the West Coast's 29 major ports shut down since last weekend because of a contract dispute, Patti Iverson-Summer is watching customers grapple with problems they can't control.
'There are no expletives that convey how strongly I feel,' says Iverson-Summer, who works for Global Trading Resources, a Portland company that is both a customs broker and freight forwarder.
The port shutdown had been a looming threat since May, when the International Warehouse and Longshore Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents terminal operators and shippers, started negotiating a new three-year contract.
But the reality is turning out to be far worse than the threat.
Companies that rely on the export-oriented port to ship out wheat and other grains, as well as perishables including apples, pears, potatoes and onions, say the timing is especially cruel.
'In an economy where over the last few years we've been faced with such competition from outside markets, like China Ñ this really, really puts a damper on our comeback,' says Heather Stewart, director of Allports Forwarding Inc., another Portland customs broker and freight forwarder.
Negotiators for the two groups resolved health benefit issues several weeks ago. The remaining dispute is over introduction of new technology into cargo handling. The union says computerization is great if it doesn't cost union jobs; management contends advanced technology is necessary to deal with soaring cargo volumes.
The union's last strike was in 1971, but this work stoppage is not a strike; rather, longshore workers are locked off their job sites by the maritime association.
While negotiations were going on this spring and summer, Iverson-Summer says: 'We had high hopes that both sides, negotiating in good faith, would take into consideration the times Ñ homeland security, the recession Ñ and realize this would not be a good time for all shipping to come to a screeching halt.'
The port closure Ñ which began Sept. 27 Ñ immediately affects 10,500 longshore workers. But they're not the only ones.
Studies estimate that shutting down the ports initially has cost $1 billion a day. But that cost is expected to soar if the shutdown continues: An economic study done for the maritime association predicts the cost of a 10-day shutdown would climb to $19.4 billion. Almost $300 billion in goods moves through West Coast ports in a year.
Oregon's state economist thinks many retailers bulked up their inventories as insurance against a possible lockout. As a result, Tom Potiowsky says, they're buffered against what's happening.
'The group that may be more immediately hit is probably the manufacturers more attuned to doing just-in-time inventory methods,' he says. That's a reference to the shift many firms have made in recent years: They save money by keeping only a week or two of inventory on hand.
Also in peril, he noted, are 'the agricultural products that are perishable Ñ that does hurt.'
In Oregon, Potiowsky says: 'It seems like if they can work this out within two weeks, there probably won't be much of an impact at all, of any huge consequence. The longer that discussions and the lockout continues, of course, the worse things will get.'
Grain trains parked
Ships at anchor Ñ either unable to unload or waiting for cargo Ñ dot the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Railyards and sidings are filling up with loaded grain cars; both the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad have embargoed further moves of international cargo to and from the West Coast.
Union Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney says grain trains still are running, although they might be held in railyards, preferably those as close to the docks as possible.
UP's Albina Yard just north of the Fremont Bridge 'is normally a busy yard anyway,' Furtney says, adding, 'At this point the railroad continues to be fluid; we're not experiencing any serious congestion problems anywhere.'
About 8,000 containers Ñ some empty, some loaded Ñ are sitting at Terminal 6. The imported goods that some contain, from computer and electronic components to building materials, apparel and toys, are parked tantalizingly out of reach for the companies that ordered them.
Stewart can be more specific about what's in some of those containers: fresh commodities, headed for export, that won't last forever. And customers calling, she says, to ask: 'What are you going to do? You've got to do something now!'
'As of (last) Friday we had some ideas of contingency plans,' Stewart says. 'As the days go by with no (contract) resolution, those plans become less viable when we have products that are perishable stuck on vessels or stuck at the ports or stuck on barges, in trucks, or container yards.'
She lists the contents: fresh onions, grapes, celery and lettuce out of California, and frozen french fries, headed for fast-food franchises overseas.
'They're stuck,' Stewart says. 'We can't really do anything about it right now, but the inventory is not getting to the franchises over there, which is going to cause a problem for them.'
Onions are 'sort of touchy,' according to Stewart. They aren't shipped in refrigerated containers, and they've got a limited transit time: 14 days, now dwindling fast.
'Once this thing is cleared up, we have to make a decision whether the quality is good enough to send then overseas,' she says. 'Or, we have to take them back to their origin point and have them dumped as garbage.'
Bad for wheat growers
Jonathan Schlueter of the Pacific Northwest Grain and Feed Association says the port shutdown also is bad news for wheat growers, who have been enjoying the highest prices in years for their crops. Portland is the country's leading wheat exporter, rivaled only by the lower Mississippi in the amount of various grains exported.
At least for now, the lockout isn't affecting any food aid shipments; last year, a quarter of the wheat shipped from Portland went to a number of famine-stricken countries around the globe. But customers in foreign lands aren't getting the wheat they ordered.
Washington apple growers, who produce one of the state's most valuable agricultural crops Ñ and export a third of it Ñ fear a prolonged shutdown will crunch into their hard-won foreign markets. Taiwan, for example, is the second-largest export market for the state's apples.
'Asia is huge for us,' says Tracy King of the Washington State Apple Commission. 'Every day that goes by, we're missing a lot of business. Just as bad for us, it creates an opportunity for our competitors to get in Ñ it gives an opportunity for apple growers from France, China and other apple-producing companies to take advantage of the situation.'
He adds, 'We're a year-round business; we have to export every single day of the calendar year. É Because we're so big, there's no time that would be good for this to happen.'
Millwork firm awaits wood
On the import side, there's potential for everything from inconvenience to empty shelves if the lockout drags on. Some companies were able to plan ahead; for others, it wasn't an option.
Emily Kaplan, a spokeswoman for Columbia Sportswear, says the Portland apparel giant started positioning itself last spring for the possibility of a port shutdown.
'We upped our production schedule,' she says.
As a result, she says, the firm already has received more than 90 percent of its fall-winter line from Asia and is 'doing all right right now.'
The amount of stock will carry Columbia Sportswear through Christmas.
'Everything is in the hands of customers or in the distribution center waiting to be trucked,' Kaplan says.
But Woodgrain Millwork Inc., which though based in Fruitland, Idaho, has plants in White City and Lakeview, may have to shut down factories when it runs out of raw materials, which could be within a week. A ship loaded with radiata pine from New Zealand, scheduled to dock in Portland this week, is stranded in the Oakland, Calif., harbor; another ship is en route from South America.
The mills have some wood on hand, says Mark Bickmore, Woodgrain's export manager: 'We usually keep only about seven days' material at our facility to reduce the amount of money tied up in inventory.'
If the dispute isn't settled by the end of next week, Bickmore says, the company will run out of wood and have to close plants. Woodgrain's plants in Oregon and Idaho employ about 800 workers, who would be laid off.
Woodgrain, which makes window frames and moldings, is one of the largest millwork companies in the United States. It imports the majority of its raw materials from the Port of Portland, receiving a shipment weekly.
The shutdown means no work for the truckers who haul the wood out of Portland to Woodgrain factories.
'We're having a lot of truckers call to see if we do have anything, because they're looking for loads to pick up,' Bickmore says.


text:
The Azzurri claimed a well-deserved 30-22 triumph over Steve Hansen's side at the Stadio Flaminio, and Kirwan said: "The players produced the game of their lives.
"(This) was all about finding our sprit and passion. We have talked all week about getting a passion for the game and finding our style and that's what we did.
"It shows we are going in the right direction but it is important we keep calm about it all. But we are a very happy side at the moment.
"We wanted a win and it was a very important one for Italian rugby. Now we have got that we have got to keep working.
"We'll enjoy the night but I will be watching the video and getting back to work and looking towards Ireland next week.
"We have been putting a lot of effort on our fitness for the past six months and that showed. In the last 10 minutes I did not have to make any changes."
Tweets by SixNationsRugby


text:
Brent wide
All ages
I have hauck double pushchair and I am giving the eccesories in this price like foot muffs, rain cover, lining on both seats. this pushchair is with swivel wheels and lockable plus 5 point harness and the seat back is adjustable up to sleeping position. I have only used for about 6 months. please contact on 07949272058 and I am ok to nearest offer.I have lot of things for children age birth to 3 years old. Like bath basin x 2 2 high chairs graco one.lot of toys and educational toys too.


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The Daviess County Library offers free internet training sessions every Saturday morning at the Gallatin facilty on West Grand. Call the library for specific times, 660-663-3222.
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Sunday, December 20, 2009
Popes Move Closer to Sainthood
From the New York Times-
Pope Benedict XVI moved two of his predecessors a step closer to sainthood on Saturday, confirming the "heroic virtues" of John Paul II and, in a surprise move, of Pius XII, the pope during World War II.
After John Paul's death in April 2005, Benedict bypassed a traditional waiting period to put the much beloved pope on a fast-track to sainthood. At John Paul's funeral, crowds at Saint Peter's Square chanted "santo subito," or "sainthood now."
Pius XII, however, has been a point of contention between the Vatican and some Jewish groups, who say he did not do enough to stop the Holocaust. They have called on the Vatican to open the sealed archives from Pius's papacy, from 1939 to 1958, for examination by scholars.
On Saturday, the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants called the decision on Pius "profoundly insensitive and thoughtless" and said it would cause "an inevitable blow" to interfaith relations.
More here-
1 comment:
- Leonardo Ricardo said...
I would think the collosal monument/statue constructed in the nave of St. Peters in Rome would have covered any tribute to Pius XII...the man was amongst other things, an accomplice to the Holocaust...
- December 20, 2009 at 12:51 PM
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Champagne Punch
Champagne punch, a perfect partytime drink is essentially a punch of champagne, lemonade, orange juice, pineapple juice, limeade concentrates and ginger ale. The champagne punch is made by mixing in all the ingredients excluding ginger ale and champagne in a punch bowl, stirring in ginger ale and then adding champagne. Its important that the ginger ale and champagne are used in equal volumes. The champagne punch is best served chilled.


text:
Associate Professor (A/P) Hadijah bte Rahmat is the Covering Head / Deputy Head of the Asian Languages and Culture Academic Group at the National Institute of Education (NIE). Assoc Prof Hadijah received her Bachelor of Arts in Malay Studies and Geography and MA from National University of Singapore (1985) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Malay and Indonesian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1996). She obtained Postgraduate Diploma in Education from IE in 1981. Professional Contributions In the field of education, A/P Hadijah serves on numerous committees at the Ministry of Education (MOE). She was the Chairperson for the Malay Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Review (MLCPRC, 2005). She was also part of the Steering Committee of Malay Language Syllabuses and Instructional Materials, the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee. A/P Hadijah is also actively involved in public service. She has served in the Malay Language Council Committee, MICA, since 2001; she is the Vice-Chairman of the Working Committee (Education), National Convention on Knowledge Based Economy for Malay Community (1999), Judge for Berita Harian-MacDonald's Achiever of the Year (1999-2004), and Member of Talent Advisory Panel (TAP), People's Association of Singapore (2006) and National Library Board Advisory Committee (since 200). A/P Hadijah has made contributions to the development of arts, publication and broadcasting in Singapore. She serves as Arts Resource Member, National Arts Councils (since 1998), Drama Review Committee (1999-2002), Cultural Medallion Grant Panel (2001), Editorial Member for two NAC Special Millennium Projects (Rhythms,2000; Selves, 2002); Censorship Review Committee (2003), Program Advisory Committee, S'pore Broadcasting Authority (1995-1999), Vice-Chairman of the Publication Appeal Advisory Committee and the Broadcasting Appeals Advisory Committee, Ministry of Information, Communication & Arts and National Library Board Advisory Committee. Editorial Member for two NAC Special Millennium Projects (Rhythms,2000; Selves,2002); Censorship Review Committee (2003), Program Advisory Committee, S'pore Broadcasting Authority (1995-1999), Specialist Panel Member for Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award 2007; Vice-Chairman of the Publication Appeal Advisory Committee and the Broadcasting Appeals Advisory Committee, Ministry of Information, Communication & Arts.(2006-2009); National Arts Council Arts Advisory Panel (2010-2012). She represented Singapore as Country Judge for the Literary Awards of Southeast Asia Literary Council. In 2001, she was selected by the SEA Council as a Prominent Scholar to deliver a series of lectures on Comparative Literature in Kuala Lumpur, Brunei and Jakarta. She sits in the Advisory Board, Journal of Malay and Indonesian World, SOAS, University of London and was a Visiting Scholar, Fulbright Program 2002, at University of California Berkeley, University of Harvard and Library of Congress, USA. Publications She has written 10 books, edited 12 books and published numerous academic papers in international journals. Samples of her works are: " The Concept of Modernity in Literature: the Western and Eastern Perspective" Tenggara, 1996, Vol.38, pp.105-133. " The Printing Press and the Changing Concepts of Literature and Authorship and Notions of Self in Malay Literature." JMBRAS, 1996, Vol.69, 1-21. Portraits of Nation – The British Legacy for the Malay Settlements in Singapore (Journal of Malay and Indonesian World, London, Nov 2008)
NIE/NTU Long Service Award (20 years) on 17 January 2009 Public Administration Award (Bronze) by President Republic of Singapore, National Day 2007 NTU Excellence in Teaching Certificate of Commendation 2001 NIE/NTU Long Service Award (10 years) on 12 Sept 1999