text:
Average upland yields were off about 175 pounds statewide from the year before, and Pima was down about 100 pounds.
For Vandborg, his average last season was 2.4 bales from 800 acres. For two seasons prior to 2003, he ginned three-bale crops. The difference was a late start under cool wet conditions and excessive summer heat last year.
The Arvin-Lamont area producer in the far southern end of the San Joaquin Valley looks for a rebound this year. Prices are improving and the snow covered Sierra Nevada to the east of his 1,200 acres means that the water supply outlook early is good. Combine the two and Vandborg and his fellow producers are optimistic.
"We can do OK economically with three-bale crops," said the diversified farmer who also produces potatoes, carrots, onions, alfalfa and wine grapes. He grew 800 acres of Phytogen 72 last season and plans to plant about the same this year. Most forecasters, however, are looking for about 10 percent increase in valley upland acreage.
"Cotton has been good for us. We can make money with good yields, and I like the rotation cotton gives us. We get our best potatoes behind cotton," he explained. It cleans up the ground of unwanted pathogens for potato production. Onions also follow cotton.
However, it is getting tougher to profit from cotton, not necessarily all from increasing production costs. It is the regulatory costs that are hurting cotton farmers and businessmen alike.
Workers' comp
"California workers' comp costs are killing us," Vandborg repeats a familiar refrain.
Hopefully, California's new governor can make a difference there. In the meantime, Vandborg has made a major change in how he markets his cotton in hopes of gaining added income to offset rising costs.
He has joined the San Joaquin Valley Quality Cotton Growers Association and now markets his cotton through the association's exclusive marketing agent, Weil Brothers.
California SJV Acala has a world reputation for premium quality fiber properties, but that reputation has been sullied a bit of late by a sticky cotton stigma that exploded three seasons back. Industry leaders viewed it as a huge threat to the valley's reputation and it launched an all-out campaign to get growers to take care of the problem by scouting and controlling silverleaf whiteflies. It was very successful.
Vandborg has been taking care of whiteflies long before the big campaign was launched. Southern Kern County was the first area of the valley to experience serious infestations in the early 1990s of the silverleaf whitefly, the primary culprit in sticky cotton.
Vandborg has "worked hard" to produce clean cotton from the onset of high whitefly numbers. However, he does not believe he has been rewarded until now for his efforts.
"Whitefly is a pest that often comes in late. Just before defoliation and it is tough to spray then," said Vandborg. If a producer has battled lygus and mites all season and then has to unravel the budget at the end of the season for another insect spray, it is a tough call. However, Vandborg has never hesitated if it meant the difference between clean and sticky cotton.
"Sticky cotton can gum up the works in a textile mill so badly that they have to cut cotton off the spools. We have also had problems at the gin ginning sticky cotton," said Vandborg, who wants no part of those problems with his cotton.
Non-sticky guarantee
The San Joaquin Valley Quality Cotton Growers Association was created initially to assure mills that they would get only Acala cotton from the association after the valley was opened up to all varieties. That guarantee was expanded to offer a non-sticky cotton guarantee.
Vandborg became a member this year to hopefully gain a financial incentive for his efforts to deliver clean cotton to the textile mill.
The association backs that guarantee by requiring growers to sign an agreement that they will:
-- Use strict management practices designed to prevent foreign contamination in cotton.
-- Prevent stickiness with regular field-by-field monitoring by licensed pest control advisers using University of California thresholds to treat for insects that cause stickiness.
-- Submit their production records to the association offices for documentation, an essential step in verifying that quality assurance practices are being strictly followed.
Only cottons from those fields that have been protected from contamination from whitefly and aphid will earn the trademarked "SJV Quality Cotton" brand.
Vandborg likes the idea of a third-party substantiation of what he does to protect his cotton.
"I have no problem with verification of what I do. It costs me at least one extra spray and sometimes two or more to protect against whitefly," said Vandborg. He wants mills to know that about the bales that carry his name. "Hopefully this clean cotton certification through the association will bring sales earlier and better opportunities to get more for our cotton."
105 members
The association now has 105 grower-members marketing cotton through Weil Brothers and the association either through a pool or cash payments. Vandborg, a former Calcot grower, is in the pool.
It has become easier in the past few years for Vandborg and his peers to control whitefly with the insect growth regulators. The IGRs were registered in California largely through the efforts of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations.
"In the early days when we first saw whitefly, we would spray four or five times with what we had available then and we still could not control them," said Greg Palla, a cotton producer and also director of operations and association grower services for Weil Brothers. "With the insect growth regulators we now have, we get much better control."
Sticky cotton has not gone away as an issue or in reality. Arizona was the first the whitefly/sticky cotton exploded. The IGRs saved the day there and marketers have worked hard to overcome that stigma. However, no one is foolish enough to say the problem has disappeared there or in California.
"A report from the state pink bollworm people said whiteflies continue to spread. Whiteflies were heavier in the northern end of the valley this year than in years past," said Palla. Some of the earliest whitefly control sprays were in Kings County not in Southern Kern County.
Growers generally are doing a good job of controlling whitefly. However, if there is sticky cotton now, marketers make sure they do not unknowingly ship sticky cotton to a textile mill.
Machine as guard
Weil Brothers and the SJV quality cotton group have invested $150,000 in insurance in the form of a Lintronics fiber testing machine that not only measures for stickiness, but neps, trash and seed coat fragments.
"There are only two of these machines in the U.S., but many of the textile mills in the world have them. They represent a reliable standard for testing for stickiness," said Palla. Every bale of Weil Brothers/SJV quality cotton association cotton is sampled through the machine and recorded on a computer.
Palla said textile mills are recognizing the association as a pro-active grower group wanting to guarantee what producers do in the field results in only premium quality cotton.
The fledgling association has already been rewarded for its effort with a $228,000 value-added product development grant from USDA to assist in marketing the branded cotton into the international textile mill market.
Palla said the grant is the only one in the cotton industry based upon high quality assurance with objective fiber measurement.
The association also has been invited to make a presentation before the International Textile Manufacturer's Federation annual meeting in Dresden, Germany about what it is doing to assure quality. And finally, the association has contributed $100,000 to Cotton Council International to support promoting SJV cotton in the international trade.
Crop fits rotation
"I see cotton as being part of my operation for a long time. It fits my rotation and as long as we can maintain high yields, there will be profit in it," said Vandborg. "But the quality must be there to maintain the valley's prominent place in the international marketplace."
California and Arizona cotton has long been an export commodity, with well above 80 percent going into world channels each season. With the collapse of the domestic textile industry, the rest of the U.S. Cotton Belt is now focused on world markets.
"Where the U.S. once sold two-thirds of its crop domestically and one-third into exports, that is now reversed," said Palla.
"I don't think there will any major changes in the way Western cotton is marketed. It is the rest of the belt that will have to adjust, said Palla.
That means more competition for Western growths in the world market from the U.S. than ever before. While the U.S. is trying to raise the fiber quality bar with varieties like FiberMax, SJV Acala is still head of the class.
"What we do not need is to get a bad stickiness reputation. That would really hurt California in competing with lesser quality growths," said Palla.
"Our growers have made the commitment financially to make sure that does not happen," said Palla.
"I think the future looks good for SJV logoed cotton," said Vandborg.


text:
- About AAV
- Membership
- Resources
- News
|Career Center
Job Seekers, Welcome to AAV Career Center
The job you tried to view is no longer active.
See similar jobs below or perform a new job search.
Sort By
1,099 'emergency OR doct OR STATECODE:"NJ"' Jobs
Hillsborough, New Jersey
Red Bank Veterinary Hospital
2 Weeks Ago
Toms River, New Jersey
Small Animal Veterinary Associates, PA
1 Month Ago
Turnersville, New Jersey
Regional Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center
4 Weeks Ago
Tinton Falls, New Jersey
Red Bank Veterinary Hospital (RBVH)- Tinton Falls, NJ
2 Weeks Ago
Swedesboro, New Jersey
Saint Francis Veterinary Center
2 Months Ago
Columbus, New Jersey
Columbus Central Veterinary Hospital
2 Days Ago
Marlton, New Jersey
Marlton Animal Hospital
1 Month Ago
Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey
Animal Hospital of Hasbrouck Heights
1 Month Ago
Passaic, New Jersey
Parkview Animal Hospital c/o Burzenski & Company, P.C.
2 Months Ago
Princeton, New Jersey
County Veterinary Hospital
2 Weeks Ago
Powered By

subset: commoncrawl


text:
About the Clinical Research Center
At the Clinical Research Center (CRC), research on products that impact Women's Health has been our focus for more than 25 years. Our clinical trial experience has encompassed virtually all menopausal and contraceptive therapies available today. In addition, we have evaluated drugs that have the potential for use in the treatment of pre-term labor, endometriosis, urinary incontinence, intra-abdominal adhesions, bronchitis and epilepsy among others. Funding for these studies comes from research foundations and corporate and government sponsors.
Our center staff consists of physicians; registered-nurse study coordinators; advertising, marketing and recruiting staff; regulatory and financial staff; and administrative support personnel.


text:
Previous Episode | Next Episode
The Alliance Strikes BackThe Alliance Strikes Back (1985) - Voltron Anime Episode Guide
This page has been viewed 5 times this month, and 237 times total.
- Voltron AnimeAnime Episode GuideEpisode GuideTelevisionSeriesCartoon
- Traditional Animation
- Tôei Company Ltd.
- Distributed by: World Events Productions
- Cartoon Characters: King Zarkon, Lance, Queen Merla, Keith, Pidge, Princess Allura, Haggar, Hunk, Prince Lotor.
- Voice Actors: Jack Angel, Michael Bell, Tress MacNeille, Neil Ross, B.J. Ward, Lennie Weinrib, Peter Cullen.
- Produced By Peter Keefe, John Teichman.
- Music: Daniel Licht, Dale Schacker.
- First Aired on November 14, 1985.
- Originally Released in Syndication.
- Running Time: 30 minutes.
- Color
- Japan
Cartoon Summary:
All at once, Zarkon's countless slave planets begin revolting at the same time.
Cartoon Production Information:
From the Japanese Lion Force Voltron series. Release date reflects original air date in Japan; US airdates: 1984-1986 in syndication.
Watch Cartoon Video:
You can watch this episode today on your computer. Just click below to start viewing "The Alliance Strikes Back" online now.
Submit Additional Information:
Do you have anything to add to this page? Have we made any mistakes... or do you have any additional information about The Alliance Strikes Back? If so, we would love to hear from you. Please send us a quick note with your additions or corrections to this page, and we will make the corrections as soon as possible!
Cartoon Comments:
Do you love The Alliance Strikes Back, or do you think it is the worst cartoon ever? Let us know what you think! Surely you have an opinion... so share what you think. Take a minute and post your own comments about this cartoon here.


text:
Occupancy sensor
The Simplicity LX occupancy sensor combines ultrasonic minor motion detection with passive infrared long-range major motion detection to turn lighting systems on and off based on occupancy. The sensor complies with LonMark interoperability guidelines and is designed for use in open-system, multi-vendor, interoperable LonWorks networks. It uses IntellADAPT technology to continuously analyze the environment and self adapt, eliminating manual sensitivity and timer adjustments during installation and over the life of the product.
Hubbell Building Automation
Circle 200
Portable GFCI
This portable ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) comes in six unique 15A and 20A, 120V and 240V, 60Hz models, including an 11-ft cord set, tri-tap receptacle, in-line GFCI, and a GFCI-protected quad box. The UL-listed and CSA-approved GFCI interrupts electrical power when loads have a potentially lethal ground current in excess of 4mA to 6mA. A built-in suppressor keeps radio frequency interference from nuisance tripping the device.
McGillCircle 201
Optical fiber cabling system
The Plug & Play universal system is a preterminated optical fiber cabling system for data center applications. Offering all of the benefits of the company's standard Plug & Play products, this system eliminates polarity concerns in the field by using a design that has no special polarity components. Featuring trunks, extender trunks, harnesses, modules, and patch cords, it allows two or more MTP connector trunks to be linked, and the system length can be expanded using extender trunks.
Corning Cable Systems
Circle 202
Ground integrity meter
The Ground Pro is a ground integrity meter designed to measure tool and facility ground parameters, including connectivity and noise. This portable handheld instrument, which is in compliance with ANSI 6.1 and ESDA S20.20, measures three important ground parameters: AC impedance, EMI noise, and AC voltage.
Credence Technologies
Circle 203
Relay panel
The GR 2400 relay panel is designed for use with the company's 100% scalable lighting control system. The panel features a 32-channel, 365-day astronomical time clock with a 200-year non-volatile memory, which acts as a programming interface for the entire system. Other key features include: manual override of individual relays, zones, or the entire panel; control of mixed voltages; control of normal or emergency power; and the ability to link up to 127 digital devices with Cat. 5 cable with RJ45 connectors.
Lighting Control & Design
Circle 204
Lighting controller
This G3 Ethernet-based Powerlink lighting controller is now compatible with a DMX protocol. DMX 512 is a standard protocol used to allow lighting control desks in churches, concert halls, arenas, and theaters to communicate with lighting equipment. The panels use a remotely operated circuit breaker and meet the requirements of Art. 409 of the 2005 NEC. A Web interface allows lighting to be controlled manually or as scheduled events.
Square D/Schneider Electric
Circle 205


text:
Michael's Playful Room To Grow
Name: Michael
Location: Venice, CA
Room Size: 10 ft x 12 ft
Stylist Emily Henderson is no stranger to fun, eclectic and whimsical design. When I was asked to photograph this adorable nursery with her, I immediately felt how strong the aesthetic was and wanted to share it in a tour. Turning Michael's family's design wishes into fruition she has created a gorgeous space that he will continue to grow into.
Situated in a modern loft blocks from Venice Beach, Michael and his family get to rise and shine every morning to the view of the gorgeous water. This is an ideal setting or backdrop to any baby nursery. You can see the calming blues and greens of the view had a direct influence on the palette of the room, which is already mature enough for a toddler or a teenager. One aspect I love is the little bed nook near the window, which shows how the room can be re-shaped once Michael no longer needs to sleep in a crib.
Emily had an inspired vision for this nursery which I believe she brought to life effortlessly. I really also love the picture frame wallpaper and the changing table which is just a vintage dresser converted with some paint.
A few questions for Emily, the designer of Michael's nursery:
What was your inspiration for the room?
The loft is by the ocean so we wanted it to feel airy, open, happy, fresh, young, not-too baby but totally youthful. I'm a massive fan of nurseries feeling comfortable and young but also reflecting the parents' personal style because its the parents that spend so much time in it the first few years. And these parents are young and hip so I wanted it to reflect that.
What is your favorite element in the room?
The frame wallpaper from Graham and Brown is perfect in this space. I've seen it around forever, but sometimes it just doesn't work and sometimes it totally does. Here, it works. Pictures of family can be taped up and added to for years and years. Plus it's just begging to be colored and drawn on. So it becomes something very personal - like a living gallery of the family and the baby's childhood.
Before starting, what did you know you wanted to include, for sure?
The parents loved this color palette that they saw in a friend's house, so it was our jumping off point - this aqua, charcoal, grey and we added the pops of yellow.
What was your proudest DIY?
While spray-painting is hardly a genius move, that bike lamp was once boring black wire that I got at a thrift store, which would be great in more of a grownup space, but for this nursery we wanted it to pop and feel more whimsical. I want it for me and to hoard it for my future child.
What was your biggest indulgence?
The nursing chair. The homeowners wanted it to be crazy comfortable and totally baby-friendly. Something that you could sleep in if you needed to. So it was a bit of a splurge, but it's totally the right piece for them. They love it.
Any advice for other people starting this process?
The trick to a nursery not looking too 'baby' is to start with a consistent color palette of not too 'baby' colors. This aqua paint is definitely whimsical but the grey and charcoal keep it more grown up.
If money was no object, what would your dream source be?
ABC Carpet and Home. I mean, everything in that store is beautiful.
- Crib bedding: The Pincushion Store
- Wallpaper: Graham & Brown 'Frames'
- Crib: owner's own
- Nursing chair: Little Castle
- Dresser: Vintage and then refinished and painted
- Twin storage bed: Sears
- Paint color: Benjamin Moore, 'Ocean Spray'.
- Revolving bookcase: PB Teen
- Blanket on twin bed: West Elm
- Sheets on twin bed: West Elm
- Hot air balloons: Authentic Models
- Curtains: Ikea, Aida - then the home owner had them lined with blackout lining.
- 'I'll love you to the moon and back' print Kranky Krab
Thanks, Emily. Also, a big thanks to baby Michael's parents!
(Images: Bethany Nauert)


text:
What's not to like about upstate New York's Finger Lakes region? Consider the farmers markets, wine trails, rieslings, its Cornell chicken and grilled meat sandwiches called spiedies, its high-profile restaurants and an August weekend dedicated to sauerkraut, with a princess and prince and cabbage-head bowling.
Gifted with 11 lakes (including Otisco, Owasco, Cayuga, Seneca and Keuka), plus creeks, rolling hills, forests and farmland, the region is lovely to visit. It can be a delicious adventure as well if guiding your appetite is the book "Finger Lakes Feast: 110 Delicious Recipes From New York's Hotspot for Wholesome Local Foods" (McBooks Press Inc., $22.95).
Written by Karl Zinsmeister with his children, Kate Harvey and Noah Zinsmeister, it includes recipes from chefs, family and friends, regional recipes (Chautauqua Graham Bread, an Iroquois-inspired Three-Sisters Soup, etc.) and what dad calls "almost folk recipes," those with as many versions as there are cooks (i.e. the marinated-in-apple-cider-vinegar-then-grilled Cornell chicken).
The Zinsmeisters' Finger Lakes roots run deep. "I'm fifth generation. My kids are sixth generation. That's a big part of what motivated us to do the book. It's sort of an act of local patriotism," he said in a phone conversation from Washington, D.C., where he works in philanthropy.
"We tried to make sure the book was a mix of really wonderful, stunning food you can't get elsewhere, and balancing that with things that were simple and wholesome. That's kind of the Finger Lakes MO. It's not a pretentious or a fussy place, but it does have really high-quality food you can get anywhere, from delis, cafes and farm stands right on up to really superb restaurants."
There are 150 u-pick farms in this relatively small area, he figures, and 71 farmers markets.
"One of the most wonderful farmers markets in the world is in Ithaca," he said of the 40-year-old market (ithacamarket.com). "It's a true community creation … and a neat combination of social and agricultural and culinary. It's right on the water, so it's a pretty locale as well."
And on the southeast corner of Seneca Lake, where the wine region blossomed, there's a series of tiny little villages and rolling green hills "and a bunch of real interesting chefs," he said, citing Dano's Heuriger on Seneca (danosonseneca.com), Stonecat Cafe (stonecatcafe.com), Red Newt Bistro (rednewt.com) and Suzanne Fine Regional Cuisine (suzannefrc.com). "They have radically different styles of food. The only thing they have in common is that they're extremely approachable."
Enriching the book are resources (sausage- and cheesemakers, for example) and bits of history. Zinsmeister, who still has a house in the region, has written for several periodicals and has several books to his credit, wrote this with Kate, who also tested the recipes, while Noah was the photographer. And when it opens for the season, expect to find him at the Cornell University Orchard (hort.cals.cornell.edu/cals/hort/about/cornell_orchards.cfm), an on-campus experimental orchard where new apples and grapes are tested, students are trained and cider is made to sell. "My wife and I just love this place."
Your top spiedie spot? "Sharkey's (56 Glenwood Ave., Binghamton, N.Y.)," he says. "It's just a hole in the wall right off the interstate. We used to go there after baseball games with my kids."
And that sauerkraut fest? It's Aug 1-4 in the town of Phelps (phelpsny.com/sauerkraut-festival).
Maple mustard salmon (Adapted from "Finger Lakes Feast")
In a saucepan, blend over low heat 2/3 cup melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon dried dill, 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard, plus salt and pepper to taste. Pat 4 to 6 salmon fillets dry with paper towel. Place fillets in a shallow baking pan. Baste liberally with butter mixture. Broil or grill fillets, basting fish as it cooks. Turn once. Fish is ready when it flakes easily. Makes 4 to 6 servings.


text: Celebration of life services for 88 year old Menno Helmuth of Kalona are Sunday (8/22) afternoon at 2:00 at the East Union Mennonite Church in rural Kalona. Burial will follow in the East Union Cemetery. Visitation will be held Saturday (8/21) from 4-7pm at the Peterseim Funeral Home in Kalona. A memorial fund for Pleasantview Home or East Union Mennonite Church has been established.


text:
Sapphire HD 7950 FleX Dual-X Edition 3GB Review
Over the past couple of years, flat screen monitors have become very affordable and have driven the number of multi-monitor setups in homes sky high. Because of this, video card manufacturers have been trying to meet the demands of gaming-grade video cards that can also support a large number of monitors on a single card. Sapphire has stepped up and delivered us its FleX edition video cards; these video cards are capable of running five displays. With Eyefinity support so large, three displays are so much more common. Although three monitors can be used on many single video cards, not many of them will support three DVI monitors right out of the box without any need for expensive DisplayPort adapters. This is where the FleX edition video cards from Sapphire are special — they support inexpensive DVI monitors with "no assembly required"!
Sapphire recently launched its latest FleX edition video card to be added to the HD 7900 lineup. The Sapphire HD 7950 FleX Dual-X Edition features all of the great performance from the Tahiti-cored cards from AMD but also has the Dual-X cooling system from Sapphire, and of course, the FleX capability for excellent monitor support. In this review, I will be taking this Sapphire HD 7950 FleX Dual-X Edition through the hoops of OCC-style testing. I will also provide a thorough evaluation of the video card from unboxing to an up-close, inside look of the card itself. Without taking up any more webspace, let's get started!
Closer Look:
The Sapphire HD 7950 FleX Dual-X Edition is packaged in typical Sapphire style with futuristic/military-style graphics on a glossy cardboard sleeve. The front of the box tells us that it is the FleX, Dual-X, and Overclocked edition, also revealing some of its other features that I will share later. The back of the box contains a large list of features offered by the HD 7900 series cards in general and more in relationship to the proprietary nature of Sapphire's FleX and Dual-X cooling technology.
Inside of this decorative sleeve is a plain brown cardboard box that houses the card and its accessories. On the top of the inside of this box is the card itself inside of an anti-static bag. This tray is removed to expose all of the accessories provided in the retail package. These accessories include a DVI to VGA adapter, CrossFire bridge, HDMI cable, two 4-pin to 6-pin power adapters, a 6-foot HDMI cable, an HDMI to DVI adapter, a mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter, and of course a user's manual and driver media CD. Once out of the box, the Dual-X Edition cooler stands out the most and I will be showing this more closely on the next page.
Now that everything is out of the box, let's keep moving.


text:
Hello! I have prepared for you a video Santa Claus dancing 2 with an alpha channel. Santa Claus is dancing for you:
1920×1080 Full HD
Alpha channel
no music
music: Melodious Christmas
Another file to select: Santa Claus dancing 3.
Here you can buy a pattern:Shine.
All the Christmas pictures here.
Please appreciate my video
For you all the fun here!


text:
I jumped to all grain about two months into it. Great move. It got me into the science side of things and much more fun. What a cool hobby! "Friends don't let friends drink bad beer"
+1. It's definitely been a journey, and a fun one. I started brewing in 1992 or 1993, when the ingredients and even the know how available to a homebrewer were so much more limited than what is available today. I arrived late to the party to this forum, even though I've been a longtime AHA member. Don't know why, but it's quickly become one of my best resources. I feel like I've learned more in the last 5 years than I did in the first 15, for sure. If you strive to get better in any facet of life, you'll get there. I can't imagine a better (or more obsession-inducing) hobby!
I've learned more in the last 5 years than I did in the first 15, for sure.
I've been reading the forum for some time now, and finally I've decided to contribute.But for me, it's been an interesting journey too. Three years ago I picked up The Complete Joy of Homebrewing on a whim, but never really did anything with it. About a year later, my local Homebrew shop had a class that I took, and that's when I was hooked. I wasn't even big into beer at that point. Since then though I've been brewing pretty steadily (save a three month excursion to Switzerland), and am hoping to finally get my hands dirty in some all grain soon. On top of that, I'm even working at that same homebrew shop now, and the learning just doesn't end. I learn a lot from the experienced brewers that come in, but I get real excited when we get people who haven't brewed before and are interested (I'm a teacher at heart I've found out). And although my working at the shop (which some would consider a dream job I'm sure) is hopefully temporary for me (again, teaching is my calling), this is one hobby that I love and get real inspired by. Also since this is my first post here, I do want to thank those of you who repeatedly do post. Your responses have given me great ideas for future brews, taught me about things I should do differently and more often than not, give me a good chuckle.


text:
The last two weeks we showed how the natural multidecadal cycles in the Pacific (called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation or PDO) and Atlantic (called the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation or AMO) affected the frequency of El Ninos and La Ninas and combined to correlate strongly with temperatures over the United States.
In early May, a paper appeared in Nature that created quite stir in the media by showing how by including long term ocean cycles in models the recent global cooling or at least lack of warming may continue to 2020. The same week, a story by NASA's Earth Observatory reported on the flip of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation to its cool mode. "This multi-year Pacific Decadal Oscillation 'cool' trend can intensify La Niña or diminish El Niño impacts around the Pacific basin," said Bill Patzert, an oceanographer and climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The persistence of this large-scale pattern tells us there is much more than an isolated La Niña occurring in the Pacific Ocean."
You heard these first here on Intellicast (in fact even in the prior incarnation of Dr. Dewpoint, we often talked about the importance of these ocean cycles in climate cycles). This week we will talk about temperatures and ice in Greenland and the Arctic, topics sure to dominate the news this summer. Already recent media stories have some scientists predicting another big melt this summer. We will show how that is not at all unprecedented (happens predictably every 60 years or so) and is in fact entirely natural.
Many recent studies have addressed Greenland ice mass balance. They yield a broad picture of slight inland thickening and strong near-coastal thinning, primarily in the south along fast-moving outlet glaciers.
Figure 1: Greenland ice thickness changes as determined from NASA satellites
However, interannual variability is very large, driven mainly by variability in summer melting and sudden glacier accelerations. Consequently, the short time interval covered by instrumental data is of concern in separating fluctuations from trends. But in a paper published in Science in February 2007, Dr. Ian Howat of the University of Washington reports that two of the largest glaciers have suddenly slowed, bringing the rate of melting last year down to near the previous rate. At one glacier, Kangerdlugssuaq, "average thinning over the glacier during the summer of 2006 declined to near zero, with some apparent thickening in areas on the main trunk."
Dr. Howat in a follow-up interview with the New York Times went on to add
"Greenland was about as warm or warmer in the 1930's and 40's, and many of the glaciers were smaller than they are now. This was a period of rapid glacier shrinkage world-wide, followed by at least partial re-expansion during a colder period from the 1950's to the 1980's. Of course, we don't know very much about how the glacier dynamics changed then because we didn't have satellites to observe it. However, it does suggest that large variations in ice sheet dynamics can occur from natural climate variability."
Thomas, et al. (2000) showed great variance in mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet with highly variable thickening and thinning depending on location. This February during a bitter cold winter, Denmark's Meteorological Institute stated that the ice between Canada and southwest Greenland reached its greatest extent in 15 years.
Temperatures were warmer in the 1930s and 1940s in Greenland. They cooled back to the levels of the 1880s by the 1980s and 1990s. In a GRL paper in 2003, Hanna and Cappelen showed a significant cooling trend for eight stations in coastal southern Greenland from 1958 to 2001 (-1.29ºC for the 44 years). The temperature trend represented a strong negative correlation with increasing CO2 levels.
Shown below in figure 2, see the temperature plot for Godthab Nuuk in southwest Greenland. Note how closely the temperatures track with the AMO (which is a measure of the Atlantic temperatures 0 to 70N). It shows that cooling from the late 1950s to the late 1990s even as greenhouse gases rose steadily, a negative correlation over almost 5 decades. The rise after the middle 1990s was due to the flip of the AMO into its warm phase. They have not yet reached the level of the 1930s and 1940s.
Figure 2: Godthab Nuuk, Greenland annual mean temperatures (NASA GISS) top and the AMO bottom (annual dark blue and 5 year running mean purple) source CDC Climate Indices
Figure 2: Godthab Nuuk, Greenland annual mean temperatures (NASA GISS) top and the AMO bottom (annual dark blue and 5 year running mean purple) source CDC Climate Indices
Warming in the arctic is likewise shown to be cyclical in nature. This was acknowledged in the AR4 which mentioned the prior warming and ice reduction in the 1930s and 1940s. Warming results in part from the reduction of arctic ice extent because of flows of the warm water associated with the warm phases of the PDO and AMO into the arctic from the Pacific through the Bering Straits and the far North Atlantic and the Norwegian Current.
Polyakov et al (2002) created a temperature record using stations north of 62 degrees N. The late 1930s-early 1940s were clearly the warmest of the last century. In addition, the numbers of available observations in the late 1930s-early 1940s (slightly more than 50) is comparable to recent decades. The annual temperatures are plotted in figure 3.
Figure 3: Arctic Basin wide temperatures (Polyakov 2003)
Figure 3: Arctic Basin wide temperatures (Polyakov 2003)
Pryzbylak (2000) says:
"There exists an agreement in estimating temperature tendencies prior to 1950. Practically all (old and new) of the papers which cover this time period concentrate on the analysis of the significant warming which occurred in the Arctic from 1920 to about 1940. Estimates of the areal average Arctic temperature trend in the second half of the 20th century are inconsistent.
"The second phase of contemporary global warming in the Arctic [since 1970] is either very weakly marked or even not seen at all. For example, the mean rate of warming in the last 5-year period in the Arctic was 2–3 times lower than for the globe as a whole.
"In the Arctic, the highest temperatures since the beginning of instrumental observation occurred clearly in the 1930s. Moreover, it has been shown that even in the 1950s the temperature was higher than in the last 10 years."
Polyakov (2003) showed ice extent time series with a combination of decadal and multidecadal tendencies, with lower values prior to the 1920s, in the late 1930s to 1940s and in recent decades. They showed higher values in the 1920s to early 1930s and 1960s-1970s, similar to variability in temperature records. It is impossible to find a consistent long term trend in the data plots
The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture observed in a story in Yahoo Asia News in 2005 an ice shrinkage in the western Arctic Ocean from 1997 to 1998 that they attributed to "… by the flow to the area of warm water from the Pacific Ocean, not by atmospheric impact as previously thought". This was related to the super El Nino of 1997/98. JAMSTEC's Koji Shimada, the group's sub-leader, said the shrinkage was particularly severe in the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean. The ocean's ratio of area covered with ice during the summer stood at about 60-80 percent from the 1980s to mid-1990s, but it went down to 15-30 percent after 1998, he said. Trenberth (1999) also has acknowledged this warming effect of El Nino on the arctic.
Of the two oceans, for the larger arctic basin, the Atlantic may be more important. Przybylak (2000) noted that
"For arctic temperature, the most important factor is a change in the atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic" The influence of the atmospheric circulation changes over the Pacific (both in the northern end and in the tropical parts) is significantly lower"
Rigor, et al (2002) suggest that the Arctic Oscillation (AO) affects surface air temperatures and sea ice thickness over the Arctic in a profound way. Ice thickness responds primarily to surface winds changes caused by the AO. Positive AO values (as have been observed in recent years) correspond to higher wind speeds (and generally thinner ice).
The North Atlantic Oscillation and the Arctic Oscillation (also referred to as the NAM) are related to the AMO as we reported on in the last post here.
As noted in the IPCC AR4, the relationship is a little more robust for the cold (negative AMO) phase than with the warm (positive) AMO. There tends to be considerable intraseasonal variability of these indices that relate to other factors (stratospheric warming and cooling events that are correlated with the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation or QBO for example).
Hass and Eicken (2001) and Proshutinsky and Johnson (1997) showed how arctic circulations vary from cyclonic to anticyclonic depending on strength and position of Icelandic low and Siberian highs. The latter paper noting the tendencies for the regimes to last 5-7 years and help explain the basin scale changes in arctic temperatures and the variability of ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean. Vennegas and Mysak (2000) noted penetration of Atlantic waters into the arctic is affected by the North Atlantic Oscillation and multidecadal changes in the Norwegian Current.
As was the case for US temperatures, the combination of the PDO and AMO Indexes (PDO+AMO) again has considerable explanatory power for Arctic average temperature, yielding an r-squared of 0.73 (figure 4).
Figure 4: Arctic basin wide temperatures from Polyakov (2003) versus PDO+AMO (STD). Dark blue is annual and purple 5 year running means.
Figure 4: Arctic basin wide temperatures from Polyakov (2003) versus PDO+AMO (STD). Dark blue is annual and purple 5 year running means.
Karlen (2005) reported on historical temperatures in Svalbard (Lufthavn, at 78 deg N latitude), claiming that the area represents a large portion of the Arctic. It is reported that the "mean annual temperature increased rapidly from the 1910s to the late 1930s." Later, temperatures dropped, "and a minimum was reached around 1970." Once again, "Svalbard thereafter became warmer, but the mean temperature in the late 1990s was still slightly cooler than it was in the late 1930s."
Karlen goes on to say that similar trends (warm 1930s, cooling until about 1970, minor warming since) have occurred in Arctic areas of the North Atlantic, in northern Siberia, and in Alaska. At Stockholm, where records go back 250 years, "changes of the same magnitude as in the 1900s occurred between 1770 and 1800, and distinct but smaller fluctuations occurred around 1825."
Finally, in view of the fact that "during the 50 years in which the atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased considerably, the temperature has decreased," Karlen concludes that "the Arctic temperature data do not support the models predicting that there will be a critical future warming of the climate because of an increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere."
Drinkwater (2006) concluded that "in the 1920s and 1930s, there was a dramatic warming of the air and ocean temperatures in the northern North Atlantic and the high Arctic, with the largest changes occurring north of 60°N," which "led to reduced ice cover in the Arctic and subarctic regions and higher sea temperatures." This was "the most significant regime shift experienced in the North Atlantic in the 20th century."
During the late 1920s, "average air temperatures began to rise rapidly and continued to do so through the 1930s." In this period, "mean annual air temperatures increased by approximately 0.5-1°C and the cumulative sums of anomalies varied from 1.5 to 6°C between 1920 and 1940 with the higher values occurring in West Greenland and Iceland." Later, "through the 1940s and 1950s air temperatures in the northernmost regions varied but generally remained relatively high." Temperatures declined in the late 1960s in the northwest Atlantic and somewhat earlier in the northeast Atlantic.
Hanna, et al (2006) estimated Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) near Iceland over a 119-year period based on measurements made at ten coastal stations located between latitudes 63°'N and 67°'N. They concluded that there had been "generally cold conditions during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; strong warming in the 1920s, with peak SSTs typically being attained around 1940; and cooling thereafter until the 1970s, followed once again by warming - but not generally back up to the level of the 1930s/1940s warm period."
Both the Atlantic and Pacific play roles in arctic ice extent.
Figure 5: USGCRP Arctic sea ice extent (2000)
Figure 5: USGCRP Arctic sea ice extent (2000)
The sea ice extent diminished following the Great Pacific Climate Shift (flip of the PDO to positive) in the late 1970s (figure 5). It stayed relatively stable until the last few years when a more precipitous decline began (figure 6), related to a spike in North Atlantic warmth and a positive AO.
Figure 6: Northern Hemispheric Sea Ice Anomaly (UIUC Cryosphere)
Figure 6: Northern Hemispheric Sea Ice Anomaly (UIUC Cryosphere)
Dmitrenko and Polyokov (2003) observed that warm Atlantic water in the early 2000s from the warm AMO that developed in the middle 1990s had made its way under the ice to off of the arctic coast of Siberia where it thinned the ice by 30% much as it did when it happened in the last warm AMO period from the 1880s to 1930s. Polyakov had previously concluded (2002)
"Arctic and northern hemispheric air-temperature trends during the 20th century (when multi-decadal variability had little net effect on computed trends) are similar, and do not support the predicted polar amplification of global warming. The possible moderating role of sea ice cannot be conclusively identified with existing data. If long-term trends are accepted as a valid measure of climate change, then the SAT and ice data do not support the proposed polar amplification of global warming."
Rutger's Jennifer Frances (GRL) in 2007 showed how the warming in the arctic and the enhanced ice melting was in part the result of warm water (+3C) in the Barents Sea in the far North Atlantic moving into the Siberian arctic. The positive feedback of changed "albedo" or reflectivity due to open water then acts to enhance the warming.
We can see in figure 7 how the Atlantic warmth peaked in 2004 and 2005 several years ahead of the major decline. Cooling since suggests the ice may slowly recover year to year.
Figure 7: Annual Average AMO
Figure 7: Annual Average AMO
The University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) summarized the role of the ocean cycles very well in October 2007 in this way:
"One prominent researcher, Igor Polyakov at the University of Fairbanks, Alaska, points out that pulses of unusually warm water have been entering the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic, which several years later are seen in the ocean north of Siberia. These pulses of water are helping to heat the upper Arctic Ocean, contributing to summer ice melt and helping to reduce winter ice growth.
Another scientist, Koji Shimada of the Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology, reports evidence of changes in ocean circulation in the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean. Through a complex interaction with declining sea ice, warm water entering the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait in summer is being shunted from the Alaskan coast into the Arctic Ocean, where it fosters further ice loss.
Many questions still remain to be answered, but these changes in ocean circulation may be important keys for understanding the observed loss of Arctic sea ice."
Figure 8: What Me Worry?
Figure 8: What Me Worry?
Multidecadal Oscillations in the Pacific and the Atlantic are acknowledged to be the result of natural processes. We have shown the warm phase of the PDO leads to more El Ninos and general warmth and the cold phase to more La Ninas and widespread coolness. The warm mode of the AMO also produces general warmth across much of the Northern Hemisphere including Greenland and the Arctic. When you combine the two cycles, you can explain much of the temperature variances of the past 110 years for the United States, Greenland and the Arctic.
Warm waters from both ocean basins during the ocean's warm modes contribute to periodic summer ice decreases approximately every 60 years going back two hundred years.
AMS Glossary of Meteorology, Second Edition, 2000
Arctic Climate Assessment (ACIA), 2004. Impacts of a warming Arctic. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Changnon, S., Winstanley, D.:2004: Insights to Key Questions about Climate Change, Illinois State Water Survey, http://www.sws.uiuc.edu/pubdoc/IEM/ISWSIEM2004-01.pdf
Christy, J.R., R.W. Spencer and W.D. Braswell, 2000: MSU tropospheric temperatures: Dataset construction and radiosonde comparisons. J. Atmos. Oceanic Tech., 17, 1153-1170.
Climate Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change National Assessment Synthesis Team USGRCP, June 2000
Delworth, T.L. ,and M.E. Mann, 2000: Observed and simulated multidecadal variability in the Northern Hemisphere. Climate Dyn., 16, 661–676.
Drinkwater, K.F. 2006. The regime shift of the 1920s and 1930s in the North Atlantic. Progress in Oceanography 68: 134-151.
Gray, S.T., et al., 2004: A tree-ring based reconstruction of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation since 1567 A.D. Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L12205, doi:10.1029/2004GL019932
Hanna, E., Jonsson, T., Olafsson, J. and Valdimarsson, H. 2006. Icelandic coastal sea surface temperature records constructed: Putting the pulse on air-sea-climate interactions in the Northern North Atlantic. Part I: Comparison with HadISST1 open-ocean surface temperatures and preliminary analysis of long-term patterns and anomalies of SSTs around Iceland. Journal of Climate 19: 5652-5666.
Hass, C., Eicken, H., 2001: Interannual Variability of Summer Sea Ice thickness in the Siberian and central Arctic under Different Atmospheric Circulation Regiomes, JGR, 106, 4449-4462
Humlum, O., Elberling, B., Hormes, A., Fjordheim, K., Hansen, O.H. and Heinemeier, J. 2005. Late-Holocene glacier growth in Svalbard, documented by subglacial relict vegetation and living soil microbes. The Holocene 15: 396-407\
IPCC Fourth Assessment 2007
Johannessewn, O.M., Shalina, E.V., Miles, M. W., (1999): Satellite Evidence for an Arctic Sea Ice Cover in Transformation, Science, 286, 1937-1939
Karlen, W. 2005. Recent global warming: An artifact of a too-short temperature record? Ambio 34: 263-264.
Kerr, R. A., A North Atlantic climate pacemaker for the centuries,Science, 288 (5473), 984-1986, 2000.
Latif, M. and T.P. Barnett, 1994: Causes of decadal climate variability over the North Pacific and North America. Science 266, 634-637.
Polyakov, I., Walsh, D., Dmitrenko, I., Colony, R.L. and Timokhov, L.A. 2003a. Arctic Ocean variability derived from historical observations. Geophysical Research Letters 30: 10.1029/2002GL016441.
Polyakov, I., Alekseev, G.V., Timokhov, L.A., Bhatt, U.S., Colony, R.L., Simmons, H.L., Walsh, D., Walsh, J.E. and Zakharov, V.F., 2004. Variability of the Intermediate Atlantic Water of the Arctic Ocean over the Last 100 Years. Journal of Climate 17: 4485-4497.
Proshutinsky, A.Y., Johnson, M.A., 1997: Two Circulation Regimes of the Wind Driven Arctic, JGR, 102, 12493-12514
Przybylak, R., 2000, Temporal And Spatial Variation Of Surface Air Temperature Over The Period Of Instrumental Observations In The Arctic, Intl Journal of Climatology, 20: 587–614
Rigor, I.G., Wallace, J.M. and Colony, R.L., 2002. Response of Sea Ice to the Arctic Oscillation. Journal of Climate 15: 2648-2663.
Rothrock, D.A., Yu, Y., Maykut, G.A., 1999: Thinning of the Arctic Sea-Ice Cover, GRL, 26, no23 3469-3472
Thomas, R., Akins, T., Csatho, B., Fahenstock, M., Goglneni, P., Kim, C., Sonntag, J., (2000): Mass Balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet at High Elevations, Science, 289, 427
Trenberth, K.E., and J.W. Hurrell, 1999: Decadal atmosphere-ocean variations in the Pacific. Clim. Dyn., 9, 303-319.
Venegas, S.A., Mysak, L.A., 2000: Is There a Dominant Time scale of Natural Climate Variability in the Arctic, Journal of Climate, October 2000,13, 3412-3424
Wadhams , P., Davis, N.R., 2000: Further Evidence of Ice thinning in the Arctic Ocean, GRL, 27, 3973-3975
Winsor, P.,(2001) Arctic Sea ice Thickness Remained Constant During the 1990s: GRL 28, no6 1039-1041


text:
If your sales team is not realizing the goal to increase sales, maybe they are too engaged in social selling and ignoring the sales process.
Via Barry Deutsch, massimo facchinetti
Get Started for FREE
Sign up with Facebook Sign up with Twitter
I don't have a Facebook or a Twitter account
Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Sharad Lal's curator insight, November 13, 2013 12:15 AM
Key insight - only technial leaders know the solutions, rest have to work with their teams ....
Jill Beech's curator insight, November 18, 2013 1:51 AM
Great to hear of actual situations where adaptive leadership has resolved a deep rooted issue. Mobilising people to find their own common ground and build bridges far more effective than previous efforts.
Robin Good's comment, August 8, 2013 7:30 AM
Scoop.it ha cambiato oggi il colore dei link. Penso dipenda da quello.
gawlab's curator insight, July 18, 2013 3:28 PM
would love to know about existence of such solutions in Africa..
Anji Connell's curator insight, April 10, 2013 10:53 PM
'Rooftops present a great opportunity for farming; they are large, unexploited spaces within the city. Most commercial rooftops are also perfectly fit for the technical challenges, in terms of building physics, zoning laws, and system integration with the host building. A standard commercial rooftop in a Western city is about four times the size of our test farm, which means it could produce up to 20 tons of vegetables and four tons of fish — an annual harvest to feed 400. A significant part, if not the entire annual consumption, of fresh fish and vegetables for a building's tenants could be served through its roof.'
Megan Moore's curator insight, June 1, 2014 2:22 AM
What a great article, this is something that everyone should read. Make sure you read it all before showing your class, so you can answer any questions they have.
Its weird to think the world will be in another ten years time...What will they think of next?
Linked to the Australian Curriculum, Technologies:
-Apply safe procedures when using a variety of materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to make designed solutions (ACTDEP026)
John Taylor's curator insight, October 27, 2014 5:27 PM
Fish and Fish guts adds organic material-great fertiliser!
Brian Yanish - MarketingHits.com's curator insight, November 3, 2013 10:55 AM
I would agree with Marc using a platform like Scoop.it and content curation can help to grow in your space as a thought leader.
Jeff Domansky's curator insight, March 21, 2013 1:24 PM
"16x higher engagement rates than paid media and owned alternatives" is a powerful incentive for marketing and PR pros.


text:
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Bucknell held off Navy by
just over two seconds in the varsity eight race to capture its
fifth consecutive Patriot League Rowing Championship on Sunday
morning on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.
The Bison finished the race in 7:11.60, just ahead of the Mids coming in at 7:13.80. The teams had each captured one of the first two races of the event, with Navy winning the opening varsity four in 8:16.10 and Bucknell claiming the second varsity eight in 7:22.83.
Bucknell won the varsity eight race for the fifth straight season, and in turn claimed the Patriot League Boat of the Year award that comes with the victory for the fifth year in a row. Bucknell Head Coach Stephen Kish earned his fourth Patriot League Coach of the Year award in the past five seasons.
Bucknell won the event with 35 points overall, followed by Navy with 31. Holy Cross came in third place with 18 points, followed closely by Colgate with 16 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology with 15 and Lehigh with 6.
In the varsity eight race, following the Bison and Navy were Colgate (7:20.10), MIT (7:30.10), Holy Cross (7:36.20) and Lehigh (7:41.90).
The Bison were followed in the second varsity eight race by Navy (7:32.09), Holy Cross (7:43.31), MIT (7:57.54) and Colgate (8:06.93).
In the varsity four race, Navy was ahead of Bucknell (8:20.30), Holy Cross (9:10.80) and Lehigh (9:22.10).
The event was scored on a scaled system, with the point breakdown going 18-15-12-9-6-3 for the varsity eight, 12-10-8-6-4 for the second varsity eight and 6-5-4-3 for the varsity four.
Bucknell has now earned five of the six all-time Patriot League Rowing Championships, with Navy claiming the inaugural title in 2005.
The 2010 All-Patriot League Team will be announced this coming week. The All-Patriot League Team is made up of a first and second-team squad, and selections are based on the finish in the varsity eight race. Bucknell will have three rowers and a coxswain on the first team, and three rowers on the second team. Navy will have two rowers on the first team and one rower and one coxswain on the second team. Colgate, MIT and Holy Cross will have one rower on both the first and second team, while Lehigh will feature a second-team rower.
For more information, visit the Patriot League Rowing Championship page.
Patriot League Rowing Championship Scores
1. Bucknell, 35 points
2. Navy, 31 points
3. Holy Cross, 18 points
4. Colgate, 16 points
5. MIT, 15 points
6. Lehigh, 6 points
Patriot League Boat of the Year - Bucknell Varsity Eight
Patriot League Coach of the Year - Bucknell Head Coach Stephen Kish
Championship Scored Races (Points)
Varsity Eight
1. Bucknell, 7:11.60 (18)
2. Navy, 7;13.80 (15)
3. Colgate, 7:20.10 (12)
5. Holy Cross, 7:36.20 (6)
6. Lehigh, 7:41.90 (3)
Second Varsity Eight
1. Bucknell, 7:22.83 (12)
2. Navy, 7:32.09 (10)
3. Holy Cross, 7:43.31 (8)
5. Colgate, 8:06.93 (4)
Varsity Four
1. Navy, 8:16.10 (6)
2. Bucknell, 8:20.30 (5)
3. Holy Cross, 9;10.80 (4)
4. Lehigh, 9:22.10 (3)
Bucknell Captures 2010 Patriot League Rowing Title - MIT Takes 5th
CHERRY HILL, N.J. - Bucknell held off Navy by
just over two seconds in the varsity eight race to capture its
fifth consecutive Patriot League Rowing Championship on Sunday
morning on the Cooper River in Cherry Hill, N.J.


text:
The news that Toyota will shut its manufacturing facilities in Australia by the end of 2017 will be a shock to tens of thousands of Australian workers, but it's unlikely to upset Australian car buyers.
The Australian-made Camry is comfortably the best-selling mid-sized car on the market - last year it outsold its closest rival by more than three-to-one - but it is outsold by two other Toyotas, the Hilux and Corolla.
And it is only the sixth best-selling car on the market.
About 70 per cent of Toyotas produced in Australia are exported, which is the model the government wanted local manufacturers to adopt to achieve the economies of scale crucial to modern vehicle manufacturing. The Productivity Commission estimates a factory needs to produce 300,000 cars annually to be profitable; as Australia's biggest car maker, Toyota was managing just over a third of that, with 106,252 cars last year.
But Toyota is arguably the best placed for life after local manufacturing.
Many Australians think all its cars are already imported, and the sales figures would suggest they're more than happy with that.
For 17 years Toyota has been the top-selling brand and it enjoys a dominant market share of almost 20 per cent.
Whereas Ford and Holden rely on their locally produced models to bolster sliding sales, Toyota is a strong player - or dominant - in almost every market sector it competes in.
Heading that list are SUVs and four-wheel-drives, a market Toyota helped create in Australia.
Its LandCruiser was instrumental in the construction of the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme in the 1950s, something that set the brand on its current path of being rugged and reliable.
The RAV4 popularised the now booming compact SUV market in the 1990s. And the Prado - at times the best selling off-roader in the country - doubles as the vehicle of choice for families, farmers and outback travellers.
While early Toyotas were considered cheap and behind local rivals in terms of their suitability for Australian families, their quality and durability was never in question. That reputation has helped cement the brand as reliable, if sometimes dull.
Combined with a desire to sell the top-selling model in every segment it makes Toyota a dominant player, both here and globally. But there's one market that Toyota has never won - the large cars that have until the past decade been the vehicle of choice for Australian families.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s Toyota was desperate to topple - or at least compete with - the locally produced Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore.
Its unloved Avalon and the current Aurion failed and have only even been modest sellers compared with the Big Two. In hindsight it helped the brand. History shows the large car market has collapsed and buyers have swarmed to SUVs as a replacement - the exact SUVs that Toyota is so strong in.


text:
kaboomplay necesitaba un nuevo diseño de impreso o envases y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 558 diseños de 103 diseñadores freelance.
Unleashing Possibility:
An Entrepreneur's Quest to Build Community & SAVE PLAY!
The powerfully uplifting story of how one man overcame seemingly insurmountable odds and built one of the most successful nonprofits in our nation's history Unleashing Possibilities chronicles Darell Hammond's amazing journey from a childhood spent living in a group home in Illinois to becoming the cofounder and CEO of KaBOOM!, an organization with this mission at its core: harnessing the power of community to save play for children . . . one playground at a time.
This book demonstrates how one idealist can change the world and how small, civic-minded steps create a ripple effect that can precipitate change in communities and eventually change in the world at large. More than just a memoir, Unleashing Possibilities is a call to action that will inspire readers by challenging them to rethink traditional notions of community
and social change.
This is the story of a man with a vision: Play is the best natural resource in a creative economy. Kids need more of it—it is not a luxury but a necessity for their lives. Through hard work, commitment, and the conviction
that access to a safe play environment is the fundamental right of all children.
General Audience--need's to appealing to stand out at retail and in a book store! Not a business book yet has great business lessons and also one that mom's and dad's could also emotinally connect with.
Check out Three Cups of Tea, Leaving Mirosoft to Change the World and Blue Sweater as examples.
Book Title and Sub title required; use authors name, title (CEO-Co Founder) and KaBOOM Logo together http://kaboom.org/style
Diversy of images matter a lot.
trim 5.5 x 8.4375


text:
product description
Related Products:
RyuSen V-Slim
Blade Style - San Mai
Japanese/Asian Knives
Nakiri Usuba
Stainless Steel
Vegetable Cleavers
Wood - Pakkawood
Double Bevel
Kitchen Knives
Maker: RyuSen V-Slim (click to see more by this maker)
Price: $98.95
Item num: 83665
Blade length: 6.37 in.Total length: 11.50 in.Blade height (at heel): 1.72 in.Blade thickness (near bolster): 0.06 in.Item weight: 5.60 oz.Shipment weight: 8.4 oz.Blade: High molybdenum/vanadium stainless steel forged between layers of softer, supportive stainless steelHandle: Paaka wood
Description: The nakiri is a traditional Japanese knife shape ideal for chopping fruit and vegetables. The edge is double beveled, like a Western knife. Though sometimes called a vegetable cleaver, the thin edge geometry makes it a precision tool, rather than a Japanese equivalent to a meat cleaver.
The maker of these special knives starts with limited production high molybdenum and vanadium stainless steel. A special-alloy high carbon steel powder is then forge bonded to each surface of the blade. Finally, this core material is forge-welded between two layers of soft stainless steel and tempered to Rc 63. The resulting blade has an extremely keen, long-lasting edge. Following in the best tradition of knife making, a steel ferrule is forge-welded to the tang to ensure that food particles cannot become lodged between the tang and the handle. The handle, made from multiple layers of wood impregnated with resin, is riveted to the full length tang and will last a lifetime. The blades are fully honed. Accompanied by gift/storage box.
Availability: In stock. Usually ships in 1-2 business days


text:
Car Comparison
2014 Honda Accord vs. 2014.5 Toyota Camry: Which Is Better?
Here they are, the two most popular cars in the United States of America: the 2014 Honda Accord and the 2014.5 Toyota Camry. The Toyota outsells the Honda, and the Camry is also more likely to be found in an airport rental car lot than the Accord, but you just want to know which one of these 4-door midsize family sedans is better. We're going to help you decide, but first let's take a look at what's changed for these cars in 2014.
2014 Honda Accord
Honda added an Accord Hybrid and an Accord Plug-In Hybrid to the lineup for 2014, the former rated to get 50 miles per gallon and the latter returning 115 mpge. Otherwise, aside from new seat fabric in the base LX model, the Accord Sedan is unchanged following a complete redesign in 2013.
2014.5 Toyota Camry
Notice the half-year designation for the Camry? That's because Toyota made changes designed to improve the car's crash-test performance, effective with models built after December 2013. Toyota also expanded the popular SE trim level to include new SE Sport and SE Hybrid variants.
Based primarily on owner complaints about the Accord's new touchscreen audio system, Consumer Reports says that the Honda is expected to provide average reliability at best. Comparatively, a new Camry is expected to provide average reliability at worst, with the Camry Hybrid model receiving the highest possible reliability prediction.
J.D. Power data reflects a downgrade to the Accord's quality rating with the 2013 redesign but predicts, based on the strength of the car's historical dependability, that the Honda will return better than average reliability over time. The Camry matches the Accord's predicted reliability rating from J.D. Power but receives a significantly higher award for quality.
Based on the available data from Consumer Reports and J.D. Power, the reliability victory goes to the 2014.5 Toyota Camry.
Fuel Economy
The story changes when it comes to fuel economy. Most versions of the 2014 Honda Accord are sold with a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine paired with an available continuously variable transmission (CVT) that replaces the standard 6-speed manual gearbox in the LX, Sport and EX models. The CVT comes standard in the Accord EX-L model. In combined driving, the 4-cylinder engine returns between 28 mpg and 30 mpg, with the CVT proving to be the most fuel-efficient transmission.
Additionally, the Accord's 3.5-liter V6 engine, optional for the EX-L model and standard for the Touring model, features Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) technology. The VCM system shuts down engine cylinders to conserve fuel when the car is cruising on the highway. The result is 26 mpg in combined driving.
Honda also offers the 2014 Accord Hybrid, equipped with a sophisticated gas-electric hybrid powertrain with electric-only, hybrid and gas-only driving modes. The fuel economy rating is 47 mpg in combined driving, nearly matching the Toyota Prius, which is currently the most fuel-efficient hybrid model on the market, and handily eclipsing the 2014.5 Toyota Camry Hybrid, which gets between 40 mpg and 41 mpg depending on the selected trim levels.
If that's not good enough, the Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid version is designed to travel 10 miles on electricity before switching over to traditional hybrid operation. It takes three hours to recharge the car using a standard household outlet.
Toyota's powertrain offerings are not as sophisticated as those installed in the Honda. The standard 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine is less powerful and less fuel efficient, returning 28 mpg in combined driving with its standard 6-speed automatic transmission. Similarly, the Camry's optional 3.5-liter V6 is rated to make less power and to get lower fuel economy than the Accord, with the Environmental Protection Agency estimating 25 mpg in combined driving.
The biggest difference, however, is the disparity between the two gas-electric hybrid models. Not only is the Camry Hybrid's powertrain less sophisticated and just barely more powerful, but it returns no more than 41 mpg in combined driving, well short of the Accord's rating.
With this data as evidence, we give the nod for superior fuel efficiency to the 2014 Honda Accord.
When it comes to crashworthiness, the 2014 Accord and 2014.5 version of the Camry are well matched, with the Toyota performing slightly better in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing and the Accord proving slightly safer in Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) testing. The main difference is that the Accord EX-L and Touring models qualify for a Top Safety Pick+ designation this year, thanks to their standard forward collision warning system, whereas the Camry does not because it offers no crash-avoidance systems.
It is important to note that only the 2014.5 Camry models, built after December of 2013, qualify for a Top Safety Pick rating from the IIHS. Prior to January of 2014, the Camry's small overlap frontal-impact crash-test result is Poor.
Another difference between the two models is that the Accord LX includes an expanded-view driver's side mirror that helps the driver to see vehicles in the left blind spot, a single-angle reversing camera and hands-free text messaging capability. The Accord and Camry take different approaches with their available blind spot monitoring systems. The Camry is available with Safety Connect services including Automatic Collision Notification, whereas the Accord's available HondaLink services don't offer this feature just yet. Accords can, however, be fitted with a lane departure warning system, a forward collision warning system and a multi-angle panoramic view reversing camera -- all items that are unavailable for the Camry.
Toyota certainly deserves recognition for making mid-year upgrades designed to improve crash protection, but the Accord remains the safer choice when considering crash-test performance and available safety technologies.
The Honda's continuously variable transmission and Variable Cylinder Management systems, its sophisticated gas-electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains, and its standard and available safety features tip the scales in the Accord's favor when it comes to technology.
The only advantages in the Toyota Camry's column are a standard 6.1-inch touchscreen audio system (which, depending on how you feel about such things, could actually represent a demerit), more comprehensive smartphone pairing and applications technology, and its Safety Connect services program.
According to ALG, both the Accord and the Camry receive a 5-star rating for their ability to hold their value over time, and both get the highest possible rating from Consumer Reports for total cost of ownership. Sticker pricing is about the same, though the Camry Hybrid is less expensive -- rightly so given its less sophisticated technology and lower fuel economy ratings. Lease rates for the Accord are slightly more favorable but not enough to make a big difference, and the Camry's free scheduled maintenance for the first two years or 25,000 miles of ownership helps to offset marginally higher payments.
At this point, you might conclude that the Accord and Camry are evenly matched in terms of value. They aren't. Toyota is more aggressive with rebates and other incentives, effectively pushing prices down by hundreds or thousands of dollars. Plus, it is offered in a discounted Camry L trim level, while the least expensive Accord is a more richly configured LX model. Therefore, the Camry represents a better value than the Accord -- but by the slightest of margins, because the Accord's superior fuel economy does erode the value of the Toyota's extra discounts.
AutoTrader's Advice
The two best-selling cars in America are, generally speaking, well matched in terms of pros and cons. Choosing one over the other is, quite literally, a matter of preference and priorities. For the purposes of this contest, however, we name the 2014 Accord the better vehicle when it comes to the things that most consumers claim are most important when choosing a new car.


text:
World War II (abbreviated WWII), or World War 2 or the Second World War, was a worldwide military conflict. World War II is regarded as the historical successor to World War I.
Separate conflictsEdit
There were two separate conflicts, one beginning in Asia, 1937, as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the other beginning in Europe, 1939, with the invasion of Poland. The United States joined the war years later in 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
During the later years of the 1930's the nations which were later to fight the Nazis appeased them. They were not ready for war and were desperate to avoid a repeat of the horror of World War I. Appeasement failed. It gave Hitler the chance to consolidate and Hitler took over nations which could have been on the allied side. The War defeated Adolf Hitler and the evil Nazis.
"You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor, and you will have war."
"If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds are against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves." (Winston Churchill)
Global alliances and destructionEdit
This global conflict split a majority of the world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Spanning much of the globe, World War II resulted in the deaths of over 60 million people, making it the deadliest conflict in human history. It is impossible to imagine how much more deadly Hitler and the Nazis would have been if the war had not stopped them.
World War II was the most widespread war in history, and countries involved mobilized more than 100 million military personnel. Total war erased the distinction between civil and military resources and saw the complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort; nearly two-thirds of those killed in the war were civilians. For example, nearly 11 million of the civilian casualties were victims of the Holocaust, which was largely conducted in Central Europe {Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia which is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Netherlands etc.) and the Soviet Union, and which neocons sometimes deny. There are also numerous accuses towards Poland painstakingly blaming it for conducting Holocaust, rather than Nazi Germany, on the basis that the Nazi German death camps are located in places that now belong to Poland. See: "Polish" camps controversy. .
The conflict ended in an Allied victory. As a result, the United States and Soviet Union emerged as the world's two leading superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War for the next 45 years. Self determination gave rise to decolonization/independence movements in Asia and Africa, while the European Union was formed and Europe itself began traveling the road leading to integration.
Nations InvolvedEdit
Note that it should not be amused that country was the bad guy simply because it is listed in this section. The Axis overall were the bad guys, but that does not mean that every single country that was, or found themselves on their side was the bad guy. As an extreme example: Finland was an innocent democracy that was invaded by Russia, and the only reason they are listed here is because they defended themselves from Russian imperialism.
- Germany
- Vichy France
- Italy
- Japan
- Hungary
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Latvia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Finland
- Thailand
- San Marino
- Spain
- Afghanistan
- Andorra
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Monaco
- Portugal
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Vatican City
- Yemen
- Soviet Union (Russia)
- United States
- British Empire
- Britain
- Canada
- Australia
- South Africa
- New Zealand
- India (including present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh)
- Zimbabwe (known as "Southern Rhodesia" at the time)
- China
- France
- Yugoslavia
- Greece
- Netherlands
- Italy
- Belgium
- Finland
- Norway
- Czechoslovakia
- Ethiopia
- Brazil
- Denmark[1]
- Luxembourg
- Cuba
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Iran
Fought both Germany and Russia simultaneouslyEdit
America in World War IIEdit
The glorious awesome Liberal, Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt led the U.S to victory against the evil Conservative Adolf Hitler.
- 1937: Japan invades Manchuria
- September 1939: Germany invades Poland, quickly destroying them. Russia also invades Poland. The British and French declare war on Germany. However, the British decide to build up their military first so they don't do anything.
- November 1939: The Winter War: Russia invades Finland. Peace made in early 1940.
- Phoney War (1939): Nothing happens on the western front, with Britain and France expecting a trench warfare.
- April 1940: Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
- May 1940: For the eighth time in history, France and the Low Countries were taken over by Germany in six weeks. The United Kingdom is able to retrieve a hundred thousand troops which later helped win the war.
- June 1940: Italy joins in on Germany's side. Russia also invades the nations of the Baltic.
- September 1940: The Tripartite pact between Germany, Japan, and Italy is formed,
- November 1940: German diplomatic offensive: Hungary and Romania join the Axis.
- February 1941: Italy is getting their ass kicked in Africa. Hitler decides to send Erwin Rommel to help.
- March 1941: Axis invades Yugoslavia and Greece.
- June 1941: Operation Barbarossa, Breaking the peace treaty with Russia, Hitler invades the Soviet Union.
- December 1941: Japan bombs Pearl Harbor as part of a massive offensive to gain resources. Even WWII was partially started by oil.
- 1943: The turning tide: The Battle of Kursk sends Germany into retreat
- 1943: The allies invade Italy and Mussolini is defeated, other stuff happens.
- June 1944: The Allies land in Normandy. Hitler, fooled by operation Bodyguard, thought that the real landing would occur on Pas-de-Calais, and that Normandy was a false front.
- July 1944: German officers try to kill Hitler.
- September 1944: The Allies suffered their last major defeat at Operation Market Garden. [3]
- December 1944: Germany makes its last gamble but fails to win the Battle of the Bulge. From this point on, it's impossible for Germany to win. Unfortunately, Hitler's Berlin bunker is reality-proof as well.
- April/May 1945: Surrounded by the allies, Hitler commits suicide. Anyone who's smart enough in Germany surrenders.
- August 1945: America nukes Japan following the Manhattan Project, the Uranium bomb Little Boy and the Plutonium bomb Fat Man are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
After the World War II, the fundamentals of the European Union were laid. The United States and Soviet Union emerged as world powers, thus begining the Cold War
We all hope World War III never happens.


text:
As I learned on a road trip in June, you have to cope with the elements to take an eco-tour of the Florida Everglades.
It's hot in the summertime, in case you haven't noticed, and the astounding variety of wildlife on the Everglades' 1.5 million acres includes more than 800 species of native plants, more than 350 species of birds and, yes, 43 species of mosquitoes.
Don't forget the bug spray.
Last week's heavy rain was an additional obstacle for Greg Allard, owner and operator of Southwest Florida EcoTours in Naples. He was dodging one of the cloudbursts as he explained to me in a phone interview that the weather hasn't been the only issue lately.
Even though the oil from the Deep Horizon spill hasn't affected the Southwest Florida coast, the ripple effect has been felt by tourist-related businesses there. Business is down 20 percent this summer, according to statistics from the Lee County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
To entice visitors, Allard is offering specialized tours this month to catch a glimpse of rare Ghost Orchid blooms at Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, northeast of Naples. Ghost orchids, so named because blooms appear to float in the air, are a protected species native to Southwest Florida and Cuba. A typical tour of the sanctuary's 2.25-mile raised boardwalk takes about three hours.
Southwest Florida EcoTours will provide transportation from Naples in an air-conditioned van, a guided tour of the area by University of Florida certified master naturalists, free bottled water and a souvenir guidebook to Corkscrew Swamp.
Tours depart at 8:15 a.m. and return at roughly 12:30 p.m. Cost is $90 adult, $80 age 11 and under. Private and VIP Tours are available. For details, visit southwestfloridaecotours.com or call 239-776-9050.
Orchid season typically runs from April through August, with the heaviest blooms visible in late summer, Allard says. Naturalists recently spotted eight to 10 Ghost Orchid buds. "Usually, the bloom will last no longer than a couple of weeks," Allard says.
So don't delay.


text:
A lavish Interior Department bathroom renovation from 2007 that cost taxpayers nearly a quarter of a million dollars would not happen in today's budgetary environment, a General Services Administration spokesman told Cox Media.
On Tuesday, Cox Media's Scott MacFarlane detailed a pricey renovation done by former Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne during the later years of the George W. Bush administration. The bathroom's interior area is about 100 square feet, and some of the renovated items included $1,500 wall panels, a $3,500 sub-zero refrigerator, and $2,500 in custom cabinetry. The renovations were approved and contracted by the GSA, but a spokesman for the agency told MacFarlane that there was "greater oversight" to protect against this type of waste today.
David Williams, the president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told MacFarlane that Kempthorne shouldn't have gone through with the extravagant upgrade.
"We can't afford as taxpayers the remodeling of bathrooms or any rooms that don't need to be remodeled," Williams said.


text:
HAMPTON, Ga.—More than two years ago as Shane Hmiel reflected on his NASCAR career while putting plans in place to possibly compete in the Indianapolis 500, he knew that getting back in the driver's seat in NASCAR was mostly a dream.
The only driver banned for life under NASCAR's substance-abuse policy, Hmiel had given up on his hopes of racing in NASCAR again, but he wished he could just hang out in the NASCAR garage and see his friends in their working environment, just as he did until NASCAR officials escorted him out of the Dover garage in May 2005 for a failed drug test.
On Friday, Hmiel, 32, paralyzed since a devastating crash in October 2010, got that wish as NASCAR allowed him into the Atlanta Motor Speedway garage and pit road as the guest of Camping World Truck Series team owner Billy Ballew.
"Today is one of the biggest days in my life and my career," Hmiel said in an interview with Sporting News on pit road during Friday night's truck race. "For one, I embarrassed the hell out of my family. And for two, I straightened up enough to where NASCAR will let me be back in a great sport like auto racing.
"Being at the racetrack, watching this truck race is better than winning a race."
Hmiel's return to the NASCAR garage was an emotional one as a steady stream of well-wishers visited him as he watched the truck race. It marked the first time many had seen him since his crash Oct. 9, 2010, at The Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, where his USAC Silver Crown car flipped and the top of the car—which had a roll cage but no roof—hit the track's concrete wall.
Battling for his life with a bruised spine, a head injury, a broken shoulder and collapsed lungs before suffering pneumonia and other complications, Hmiel has limited use of his arms but has feeling in all his limbs.
Hmiel has said some doctors predict he could still develop walking skills for up to five years from the date of the accident. He was in the Atlanta area as he continues therapy at the renowned Shepherd Center, which specializes in brain and spinal cord injuries.
"(Rehab) is good—I just got extended and am here until the 29th of September," Hmiel said. "They work me good. They work me 8 to 4 every day. It's a lot. I tell you what, by 2 in the afternoon and by Thursday, you're ready for the week to be over.
"It's Friday and I am a little wore out, but I'm not as wore out as the last time I was here so I am getting stronger."
Hmiel is used to long-odds battles. He had seven career Sprint Cup starts, 83 starts in the Nationwide Series and 29 in the Truck Series before his NASCAR banishment.
He missed the final eight races of the 2003 season after a positive test for marijuana. He was suspended again in May 2005 after testing positive for marijuana and cocaine and then banned for life in January 2006 after he failed an ensuing test during his recovery period.
Eventually a diagnosis of bipolar disorder was the first step toward his overcoming the drug addiction. Hmiel returned to racing in 2008 in USAC and was expected to begin a path designed to race in the Indianapolis 500. That all ended with the crash, but he has since started a USAC Midget team, which has two victories.
Watching the truck race was special for Hmiel, who won the September 2004 race at Las Vegas, his only NASCAR victory and the first in the history of the Ballew-owned team.
Just seeing that truck on the track Friday was enough to satisfy Hmiel as Kurt Busch wheeled it to a 10th-place finish.
"That 51 truck out there racing Kurt Busch is driving—it's an 8-year-old truck that I won in it, Kyle Busch won in it and Aric Almirola won in it," Hmiel said. "It's just neat for Billy to bring that out and have such a good driver like Kurt in it."
Busch's crew chief, Nick Harrison, is a lifelong friend of Hmiel, and he was thrilled to have Hmiel at the track.
"It was awful cool having him there," Harrison said. "He's so upbeat and a positive influence. For somebody that's been through what he's been through, if we had a bad pit stop or something go wrong, I'd turn around and see Shane back there and what we've got going on ain't so bad."
Said Hmiel, "It's great to see people that you haven't seen in years. It's been seven years since I've been in a NASCAR garage. I'm just very thankful that everybody at NASCAR let me come have a good weekend."


text:
Your pelagic partner
Pelagia AS is a leading producer of pelagic fish products for human consumption, and an important supplier of essential ingredients in all kinds of fish- and animal feed; protein concentrate, fishmeal, and fish oil.
The company operates 26 factories in Norway, United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark. Twenty-three of the factories are 100% owned, while three are partly owned associates.
Austevoll Seafood ASA and Kvefi AS own Pelagia in a 50/50 share split.


text:
Use mouse scroll wheel over image or pinch-to-zoom on touch devices. You can also click and drag around on image.
Pikes Peak 2014
Parked toPikes Peak 2014
Early morning bike prep
Vehicle Info: 2014 Ducati MULTISTRADA 1200S PIKES
KeywordsSign up to add your own keywords
More from this Profile:
Garage Monster 1200 R
Garage XDiavel
Garage Multistrada 1200 Enduro


text:
Grand Island – Where we live
Grand Island
Calling all alumni of Grand Island Senior High School – your classmates are getting together Wednesday and they want to see you.
Mallwitz's Island Lanes is hosting a "Grand Reunion" Wednesday at 6 p.m. outside the bowling alley, 1887 Whitehaven Road. The band Wide Right will perform live at 7 p.m. The event is open to alumni, friends and the public ages 21 and older. For more information, call 773-0062.
Also this week:
- • The Town Board will hold its regular meeting Monday at 8 p.m. in town hall, 2255 Baseline Road.
- •The Austin Against Autism Golf Tournament will be held Monday at River Oaks Golf Club, 201 Whitehaven Road beginning at noon. Tickets are $110 per person. For more information, visit www.AustinAgainstAutism.org.
- •The town will hold its annual Independence Day Parade Thursday along Grand Island Boulevard, beginning at 9:35 a.m.


text:
Best Use of Color in Tech
Most homes aren't decorated in monotones, so why should your gadgets drag down your color palette? While the number of Skittles inspired gadgets on store shelves is limited, there are a few bright punches amongst the various shades of black. Turquoise vacuum cleaners and lavender keyboards aren't for everyone, but for those of you who like to play with the rainbow there's a nice selection of colorful gizmos waiting to come home with you.
Top Row:
Colorful Turntables
Jaga Play Radiators are Colorful Heated Stacks of Fun
Miele Neptune Is Now Available in Turquoise!
Keyboard Protection for Chronic Crumbs
Don't Let Appliances Choose Your Kitchen Palette
Bottom Row:
Friedrich's Colorful Air Conditioners
Sony VAIO E-Series Notebook
Bluelounge CableBox Mini
KOTORI Headphones Dial Up the Color
The New iPod Nano, Shuffle, Touch & iTunes 10's Ping


text:
"I'm all in." If you don't know what those three words mean, you: A) have been living in a state of suspended animation since the year 2000; B) are a devout TV atheist; or C) are dead.
For those of you just tuning in, poker is hot
really hot. ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports (and probably more) are airing primetime poker on what seems like a nightly basis. Celebrities are made, fortunes are won, and the pop-culture universe has been flooded with poker lingo, websites, and soon, games.
Activision is one of several publishers who see poker video games as a winning bet. And why not? Poker and video games both appeal to young men, but are also increasingly gaining acceptance and popularity with women. As the initial wave of poker games hits, Activision hopes to attract gamers looking for the most recognizable license in the game: the "World Series of Poker." It's not too hard to imagine gamers who share an affinity for poker flocking to the license in much the same way football-minded vidders sought out the Madden license in the early '90s. Okay, enough about how the game came to be and what it could yet be. Let's look at it in its current state to see if it has "the nuts."
The WSoP stands as the Super Bowl of real-life poker playing. No Limit Texas Hold 'Em is by far the most widely played and watched event, but table games such as Omaha, 7 Card Stud, and Razz are also included. With payouts that rival the biggest purses on the PGA tour, the exploding celebrity poker scene, and the ability for any amateur player to test their skills on the Internet has made the WSoP a top attraction.
World Series of Poker relies on the hook of authenticity to reel players in. Part of the fun, obviously, is creating your own poker persona. Activision's experience with Tony Hawk shines here; player are treated to a bevy of customizable options for their character akin to the Hawk games. You can even select some "poker looks" to project out feelings of confidence, nervousness, and signs of bluffing. Pay attention to the table chatter and various looks you might see, as most players fall into a pattern.


text:
Kotaku Writes: You knew it was coming! There was actually so much good (and bad) cosplay at the New York Comic-Con that it needed to be split into two parts.
I have a few favorites. I like the Wreck-Gar mask for the fact that it's Wreck-Gar. Probably one of the most unpopular Transformers ever. I also liked the guy dressed up as Hulk walking on stilts. Speaking of things I dislike, you know how many Keyblades I saw over the weekend? Far too many!
Click the jump for the first batch.


text:
Clear Channel and SFX Strike Electronic Dance Music Marketing Deal
Fourteen years after selling concert promotion giant SFX Entertainment to Clear Channel Communications, Inc., for $3 billion, entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman has struck a new, more modest deal with the nation's biggest radio broadcaster.
Mr. Sillerman's recently created public company—an amalgam of electronic-dance-music promoters and related firms also called SFX Entertainment, Inc.—entered a marketing partnership with Clear Channel on a handful of initiatives.
Those include live dance-music events around the country this coming Halloween, a talent-search contest for DJs that will air on Clear Channel stations nationwide, and a weekly countdown show based on the top 20 tracks on Beatport, the online electronic music store now owned by SFX.
Visited by 40 million professional and amateur DJs a year, Beatport was acquired last year by SFX for $50 million, following a string of other acquisitions including event promoters Donnie Disco Presents and ID&T. Mr. Sillerman took SFX public in October. Since then, shares of SFX have fallen about 8%, as of Friday's close.
The current deal is of course far more limited in scope than the earlier Clear Channel-SFX transaction, whose effects are felt throughout the music industry to this day. Several years after buying SFX, Clear Channel spun off its live-entertainment division in 2005, and that offshoot merged with Ticketmaster in 2009 to form the live-event behemoth Live Nation Entertainment Inc.
Live Nation is now positioning itself as a rival in electronic dance music, having bought a 50% stake of another major promotion company, Insomniac, last year.
For Mr. Sillerman, 65 years old, the new deal helps boost the profile of SFX's brands - and could help sell more tickets to its massive new U.S. festivals. The company's TomorrowWorld , imported from Belgium, drew tens of thousands of fans to rural Georgia in September. Another import, Mysteryland, is slated for Memorial Day weekend at the site of the 1969 Woodstock festival, north of New York City.
"It always stunned me that there wasn't a closer relationship between radio and live entertainment," said Mr. Sillerman in an interview, declining to disclose the terms of the agreement. Even decades ago, he said, "I believed there was great connection between them."
For Clear Channel, the deal provides content and talent that it hopes will help it increase listenership among young people. It's Clear Channel's latest push into electronic music, after adding EDM-focused stations in Boston and Miami last year; Saturday-night EDM shows on its biggest pop stations across the country; and hiring EDM stars like Skrillex and Calvin Harris to play its iHeartRadio festival in September.
"EDM is quickly becoming mainstream in our culture – we found ourselves looking for every possible way we could connect with our audience in EDM," said John Sykes, Clear Channel's president of entertainment enterprises. "The great thing about DJing is that consumers can connect to it personally – you can DJ in your basement. It doesn't require a ton of money or schooling to pick it up."
As for whether the partnership might portend another Clear Channel-SFX acquisition, Mr. Sillerman and Mr. Sykes declined to speculate.
"We always operate companies as if we're going to own them forever," Mr. Sillerman said.


text:
Wilson's shootout goal lifts Predators, sends Wild to 8th straight lossNHL.com @NHL
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Colin Wilson scored the only goal in the shootout, and the Nashville Predators sent the Minnesota Wild to their eighth straight loss with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday night.
Jonathon Blum scored for the Predators, with an assist from Wilson, to give Nashville a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the third period. Dany Heatley tied it for the Wild with 3:59 remaining in regulation.
The Wild outshot the Predators 11-10 in the first period, 11-5 in the second and 35-25 overall. Minnesota had the only four shots in overtime.
Blum scored his regulation goal with a wrist shot from the point that beat goalie Josh Harding to the glove side. It was Blum's second goal in two games.
Heatley tied it by scoring on a wraparound shot that went under the outstretched pads of Pekka Rinne.
The Predators played their second game without defenceman Shea Weber, the team captain and points leader with 29 in 35 games, who is sidelined by a concussion. Weber is out indefinitely with a concussion.
NOTES: Nashville's Gabriel Bourque was recalled from Milwaukee of the AHL and made his NHL debut. It was the second game in a row the Predators had a player in his first NHL game. ... The Predators reassigned C Blake Geoffrion to Milwaukee and placed D Kevin Klein on the injured list. ... The Wild have allowed the first goal in 24 of 38 games this season. This was the third overtime game in the last seven. ... Mississippi State and Wake Forest, who will meet in the Music City Bowl, were in attendance.


text:
For best printing results turn on "Print background colors and images" in your browser settings.
The photos and videos shown here may be of a different model, model year or body type from the one selected. The ratings of one vehicle often apply to other models if they are built on the same platform. In addition, a test of a vehicle from one model year may apply to earlier or later model years if the vehicle hasn't been significantly redesigned.
The Volkswagen Passat was redesigned for the 1998 model year.
Measures taken from the dummy indicate a low risk of any significant injuries in a crash of this severity.
Dummy movement was reasonably well controlled. After the dummy moved forward into the airbag, its head moved toward the window sill as floor deformation tipped the driver seat toward the door.
How this test is conducted
All seats
IIHS doesn't track or investigate vehicle defects. Use this link to search the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's database for recalls on this or any other vehicle.
©1996-2018, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute | www.iihs.org
IIHS-HLDI in the Classroom
An educational resource for students and teachers