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Bpm'online has been named the only Challenger in 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation
In the age of digitally native customers, selling has become more challenging while companies spend billions of dollars on sales teams.
Health e(fx) is the largest ACA solution provider, boasting 10.5 million client members and a 97% client retention.
Building the right sales process can accelerate sales, but even the best sales process is ineffective without the right team and metrics.
The world is accelerating at record pace, and change has become the new normal. To become and remain successful in such a fluid environment, organizations have to cope with these changes. Being the lynchpin in networks that create turnover, sales and marketing teams should be at the center of innovation and change. And for these departments to drive results and deliver meaningful value to customers in the digital age, they have to be perfectly aligned and operate as a single mechanism.
Digital transformation reaches critical mass in 2018, as every industry now realizes it's no longer optional. Most companies have gone through an initial phase of digitalization, typically focusing on multi-channel customer communications. However, digital transformation is a journey, not a destination; it is all about continuously evolving. In 2018, companies will shift to digitizing processes and operations in ways that support rapid change and innovation – focusing on ongoing adaptation.
In the age of digitally native customers, selling has become more challenging while companies spend billions of dollars on sales teams. Only 29% of people want to talk to a salesperson to learn more about a product, while 62% will consult a search engine. To close a deal, sales reps need to uphold to golden rules of successful selling. Savvy sales pros know that real sales success is achieved only when fundamental principles are applied.
In the age of digitally native customers, selling has become more challenging while companies spend billions of dollars on sales teams.
Selling has evolved enormously in the past decades, transforming to a new level of innovative art. While 80% of sales reps think they are good at qualifying opportunities, still 51% of forecasted deals do not close. With today's demanding and digitally empowered buyers, sales pros have to be innovative in applying new approaches to find the best way to achieve sales excellence and deliver exceptional and meaningful customer experience. Download our eBook and explore 7 productivity hacks that every sales pro should follow to achieve better results and help their organization grow faster.
Forrester Research recently released a report with detailed evaluation of the leading SFA vendors.
Bpm'online has been positioned as a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™.
Scaling your sales organization requires more than reps and leaders. A critical and sometimes misunderstood function of high growth sales teams is the operations function. There is no one-size-fits-all playbook, but this post can help you think through the key factors in growing and building your sales ops team.
A partner program can be a multiplier for a company's growth, extending sales, marketing, and brand awareness.
The strong bond between marketing and sales remains one of the most highly valued assets of high-performing companies. According to Forrester, companies with aligned departments enjoyed a 38% higher sales win rate and become 67% better at closing deals. Alignment of both teams results in better customer retention rates, higher sales win rates, easier deal closing, shorter buying cycles, and less wasted leads.
The Sales Force Automation (SFA) market is projected to grow to more than $9.4 billion by 2019.
Next-gen Sales Force Automation (SFA) solutions provide sales teams with consistent and transparent control over core processes.
According to Forrester, companies with aligned departments enjoyed a 38% higher sales win rate and become 67% better at closing deals.
AI and ML are the means to injecting intelligence into sales processes and testing BPM capabilities to their limits.
Today, many organizations are put-off from moving their cumbersome legacy system to next-gen cloud SFA solutions.
Bpm'online has been included in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation, 2016.
Sales force automation is a technological solution that transforms the way your sales reps use information.
In a constantly fluctuating business world, sales professionals can't afford to lose a single lead.
When selling to businesses, it's a different game. It requires a specific set of skills and strategies.
it is crucial to make sure your sales force is as productive as possible to drive business success.
Keeping your relationship with a customer after the actual sale is as crucial as all previous stages.
Learn how automating routine operations helps agents and brokers to close more deals.
In the digital era, the concept of sale process has undergone certain changes. Let's take a closer look at it.
Discover how a properly defined sales process can help you improve sales performance and close more deals!
Working and partnering with the right software business partner is becoming increasingly mission critical.
It's known that CRM is used to improve customer experience and build long-lasting relationships with clients.
Successful selling is not about luck, it's about seizing and managing opportunities to achieve the desired outcome. Once you get your processes right, the sales team will win.
Every manager wants to implement best practices inside their organization. Your colleagues have some "know-hows".


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In this edition of Raleigh to Rome:
- The diocese observes Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Pro-life advocates take their message to the streets
- A little-known feast day draws 450 in Durham
Raleigh to Rome is your news source for what's happening in the Diocese of Raleigh and throughout the world.
To view Raleigh to Rome on a weekly basis, subscribe on Youtube. To view other videos, including A Catholic Life interviews and homilies from Bishop Burbidge, go to DioceseofRaleigh.org/Videos.

subset: commoncrawl


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This is a larger (6x9) reprint of the original. This is a fifteen volume set, which is being brought back into print for the$250.00
Anyone who truly wishes to appreciate the Latin Mass and its origin in the Mass Jesus said at the Last Supper should read this$19.95
The Roman Breviary is full of inspirational prayers and lessons. These lessons are compiled from the lessons of Matins. On$9.95
ISBN-10: 1497350298 This is a reprint of the 1916 edition. THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY is an official and accredited record, on the$19.95
Dom Prosper Gueranger The prayers from the Mass have been added before the various explanations The Ordinary of the Mass, (or, as$12.95


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Saint-Leger-du-Gennetey Hotel Accommodation
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Where to stay in Saint-Leger-du-GenneteyWhether traveling for business or pleasure, Saint-Leger-du-Gennetey can comfortably accommodate you. You can shop as many as 55 deals for Saint-Leger-du-Gennetey accommodations on Hotels.com, some with discounts of up to 30%. We have room prices as low as 29 USD per night and here you'll find a breakdown of hotels by star rating in Saint-Leger-du-Gennetey as well as in the surrounding area:
- • 13 4-star hotels from 86 USD per night
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How to get to Saint-Leger-du-GenneteyFly into Rouen (URO-Rouen - Seine Valley), 21 mi (33.7 km) from the heart of Saint-Leger-du-Gennetey. Deauville (DOL-Saint-Gatien) is the next closest major airport, 27.3 mi (43.9 km) away.
What to see around Saint-Leger-du-GenneteyHere are some recommended places to see in the surrounding area:
- • Bec-Hellouin Abbey (3.9 mi/6.3 km from the city center)
- • Chateau du Champ de Bataille (9.2 mi/14.8 km from the city center)


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STOCKS RALLY, TESLA GOES BONKERS: Here's What You Need To Know• Business Insider
What a day for Tesla.
Click to Play
What a day for Tesla.
Retail sales climbed 0.2% in December, and core retail sales ex-autos were up 0.6% on the month beating expectations.
You might not expect the chief operating officer of a major global corporation to look too far beyond either the balance sheet or the bottom line. But Harish Manwani, COO of Unilever, makes a passionate argument that doing so to include value, purpos
IBM says it will invest $1 billion in the computer system that won on Jeopardy! but has stumbled so far in the real world.
Amprius's silicon-based batteries are starting to appear in electronics.
Apple announced today that its App Store sales hit a major milestone in 2013: over $10 billion in sales. Billion. With a B.
Both Scottrade and E*Trade — popular online stock brokerage services — are experiencing problems today.
Just out from Macy's, which first said the following: "The 2013 holiday season was successful for Macy's and Bloomingdale's as we offered fresh and distinctive merchandise, delivered great value to the customer and provided a robust omnichannel shopp
Skin up for the Centennial State. Colorado's cannabis experiment began on 1 January when the state became the first place in the world to legalise the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes.
Believe it or not, about 20 years' worth of potentially life-saving drugs are sitting in labs right now, untested. Why? Because they can't get the funding to go to trials; the financial risk is too high. Roger Stein is a finance guy, and he thinks de
After first catching our attention with its out-of-the-box Cubify 3D printer back in 2012, 3D Systems is again looking to make inroads beyond the hobby market with its family-oriented Cube 3.
Commercial space company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has launched a second satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit.
Now that recreational marijuana is legally on sale in Colorado, Spirit Airlines is trying to capitalize on what is likely to be a fast growing marijuana tourism industry. On their website is this ad clearly making reference to the Colorado marijuana
A few days into the experiment, the new world of legal-recreational-marijuana sales in Colorado appears to be a big success — so much so that pot shops are finding it impossible to keep up with demand.
If Jeff Bezos really wants to launch his own delivery drones, he might take a look at the flying bots that are already making deliveries for an even larger operation: the U.S. Marines.
What I am trying to document is that Lockheed Martin Corp. (F-35 Fighter production) owns Gannett Media (Arizona Republic - NBC Affiliate Ch 12 TV Phoenix and USA Today)... I'll explain why later :)
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, explains how he feels about competition with the founders of Amazon and The Virgin Group in the race to explore space.
Since the West reached a landmark deal with Iran on its controversial nuclear program late last year, many Iranians are hoping for an end to sanctions. Western companies are also gearing up do big business.
It appears that SeaWorld employees are angry at the damage done to its reputation by "Blackfish," a documentary that claimed the theme park chain ran shows at its Orlando location featuring a killer whale the company knew to have already killed two o
Oops. While Phil LeBeau was proudly crowing about how great the auto industry 'was' doing, the actual data of how it 'is' doing printed with a dismal drop from Novermber's exuberance.
Dear JWR: I'm sitting in Western North Dakota atop a sea of oil. We are producing barrels of oil in numbers that could not be imagined less than six years ago. Natural gas production is soaring. Why? Fracking.
This is all probably just convenient luck for Warren Buffet. The environmental lobby and their money is mainly what is considered to be the reason Obama made the decisions he has on the Keystone pipeline. The Burlington northern railroad is wor
Italian carmaker Fiat SpA struck a $4.35 billion deal to gain full control of Chrysler Group LLC, ending more than a year of tense talks that have obstructed Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne's efforts to combine the two automakers' resources.
The legend of the waiting list for Packers season tickets in Green Bay has grown over the years. Newborns get put on the list, with parents hoping some day their offspring hits the top of the list.
The year 2013 marked an incredible one for spaceflight, with space agencies around the world making giant leaps in their own exploration of the solar system, while NASA welcomed the addition of a new commercial cargo ship to its list of supplies for
Bitcoin ATM manufacturer Lamassu has announced that it sold 120 machines and has plans to ship to 25 countries in 2014.
As talk builds on Capitol Hill over hiking the federal minimum wage, one city in Washington state is poised to set the highest rate in the nation.
As holiday shoppers raided Black Friday sales and internet retailers ahead of Christmas, the establishment media heralded a new era of economic boom for the 2013 shopping season.
Almost everything we own and use, at some point, travels to us by container ship, through a vast network of ocean routes and ports that most of us know almost nothing about. Journalist Rose George tours us through the world of shipping, the underpinn
A wealthy Chinese businessman and philanthropist known for his zany public stunts said on Tuesday that he was leading a group of investors seeking to acquire a large or controlling stake in The New York Times Company.


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The extremely comfortable thong made from a unique AusLite anti bacterial polymer foam offering true arch support for the perfect fit. This slip resistant foam has a starfish design on the sole leaving an impression on every beach. This attractive thong is made from a single injection mold with a fitted upper strap for a comfortable feel. They've even added a rear elastic strap for all toddler and kids sizes to ensure a snug fit. Another great design by Aussie Soles International!
Great for water activities, boating, fishing, walking, at the beach and much much more! Aussie Soles can be worn all day-- they are that comfortable!


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BAGHDAD - The Iraqi journalist thrust to instant fame when he threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush will go on trial this month on charges that carry up to 15 years in jail, a judge said on Monday.
Investigating judge Dhiya al-Kenani rejected new allegations by the journalist's family that he had been tortured in custody that were levelled after a brother was allowed a first prison visit.
"The investigation phase is over and the case has been transferred to the Central Criminal Court," Kenani said. "The trial will start on Wednesday, December 31."
Muntazer al-Zaidi stands accused of "aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit," an offence that carries a prison term of between five and 15 years under Iraqi law.
But the court could convict him of the lesser charge of an "attempted aggression" which carries a prison term of one to five years.
Zaidi, 29, became a hero to many when he threw his shoes at Bush during the US president's surprise visit to Iraq on December 14, an action considered a grave insult in the Arab world.
His lawyer had asked that the case be transferred from the central criminal court, which handles terrorism cases, to an ordinary tribunal but the judge refused.
Kenani confirmed that Zaidi's lawyer had lodged a complaint over his treatment in custody and that a letter would be sent to the office of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in order to bring them to justice.
One of Zaidi's brothers, Uday, told AFP that he had been able to visit him in custody for the first time on Sunday and charged that the journalist had been tortured by his captors.
"I met my brother for around an hour. He has been tortured while in detention for 36 hours continuously. He has been hit with iron rods and cables," the brother said.
"There is very severe bleeding in his eye, and he has bruises on his feet and nose, and he was also tortured with electric shocks.
"Muntazer told me that he threw his shoes not in a quest for fame and fully expecting that he would be killed while doing so," Uday said.
"He threw his shoes over dissatisfaction with Bush's speech when he said he has brought blessings for the Iraqi people."
Zaidi's actions were hailed by many in the Arab world who considered it an ideal parting gift to a deeply unpopular Bush, who ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq that triggered years of deadly insurgency and sectarian conflict.
The judge dismissed the family's allegations of torture.
"Muntazar's brother is lying, because there are only bruises on Muntazar's face that he received during the arrest and they are small ones," Kenani told AFP.
"Even if it were true that he had been tortured with electric shocks, it would leave burns on his body, and you will see Muntazer during the trial, so you can judge for yourself.
"Also Muntazar filed a complaint only against those who attacked him during his arrest," and not later while in custody, Kenani added.
Zaidi's family has been demonstrating in a park near the central Baghdad government compound where he is being held but Uday said security forces had told them to leave because they were in a sensitive area.
"We were forced by the Iraqi military to leave the area and they threatened to arrest us if we do not leave," he told AFP.


text: My sorc is approaching lvl 80 and I have many unused stat points available. I want to use a "Spirit" shield. Obviously, I need a 4-os non-pally shield. Research has shown that there are 3 elite shields which have a 4-socket max in hell mode... Monarch (156 str req) Aegis (219 str req) Ward (185 str req) I have less than 100 str right now, but I do have those unused points. You guys know the deal, 156 str is HIGH for a sorc. However, my friend just told me that there is a typo on those sites since there is one more 4-socket elite shield... Trollnest (106 str req) He claims to have used this on a previosu hc sorc, whom has since died. Is this true? Can I find a 4-socket Trollnest with 106 str req??? (Oh, and if you have one, let me know :fwink ).


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Salmon with Tarragon-Yogurt Sauce
A simple yogurt sauce pairs nicely with broiled salmon; this elegant main dish comes together easily in about 15 minutes.Source: Everyday Food, June 2008
Total Time Prep Servings
Cook's Notes
Sauce can be refrigerated up to 1 day.
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LinfromCT7 MAR, 2010This sounds easy and good. I will try the recipe in the summer when I have tarragon growing in a barrel on my deck. Luckily, Greek yogurt is available in most supermarkets in our area.Reply
LinfromCT7 MAR, 2010This sounds easy and good. I will try the recipe in the summer when I have tarragon growing in a barrel on my deck. Luckily, Greek yogurt is available in most supermarkets in our area.Reply
MlleGena19 JUN, 2008I found it really difficult to find Greek Yogurt, so I used Middle Eastern yogurt: Labna. The taste of this yogurt is very strong and not suited towards American taste buds. Wouldn't try this again.Reply
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- that's eggy
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- that's simple
- that's a smoothie
- that's a casserole
- that's off the beaten path
- that's light
- that's packable
- that's speedy
- that's warming
- that's kid-friendly
- that's comforting
- that's quick
- that's healthy
- that's a sunday dinner classic
- that's vegetarian
- that's seasonal
- that's chocolaty
- that's an american classic
- that's easy
- that's fruity
- that's salty and sweet
- that's over the top
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- that's simple
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- that's a dip or spread
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Idelman Mansion
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Full Name:Matt Hansen Mead
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Birth Date:03/11/1962
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Home City:Cheyenne, WY
- JD, College of Law, University of Wyoming, 1987
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- United States Attorney, State of Wyoming, 2001-2007
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NEW YORK » Wall Street gave up sharp gains and closed lower yesterday after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point but left investors guessing about the central bank's next move. The Dow Jones industrial average, momentarily soaring above 13,000 for the first time since early January, ended the session with a modest loss.
The Fed's statement yesterday made it clear the central bank is less worried about economic growth than in March, when it pointed to "downside risks to growth." The Fed said yesterday that while the economy remains weak and the inflation outlook is still uncertain, its rate cuts and lending efforts over the past several months "should help promote moderate growth over time and to mitigate risks to economic activity."
But what was less certain was whether the central bank is confident enough about the economy to make inflation a top priority and keep interest rates on hold.
"It feels as if they're going to pause," said Kim Caughey, equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. She said, though, that she was surprised the Fed stated that it "expects inflation to moderate in the coming quarters."
"I think they're being clear that they're not 100 percent sure about what the next step is," Caughey said.
With economic data in recent weeks coming in anemic but not as bad as expected, inflation has appeared to Wall Street to be the growing threat, due to rising food prices, crude oil near $120 a barrel and U.S. roadside gasoline prices surging above $3.60 a gallon.
"The market had wanted to hear tougher talk on inflation, and some sort of talk that the easing has been adequate for a while, for the foreseeable future," said Scott Wren, equity strategist for Wachovia Securities.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 11.81, or 0.09 percent, to 12,820.13, after trading up 178 points shortly after the Fed's announcement.
Broader stock indicators also closed down, having given up steep gains. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.35, or 0.38 percent, to 1,385.59, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 13.30, or 0.55 percent, to 2,412.80. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.75, or 0.38 percent, to 716.18.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume totaled 3.66 billion shares, the same as on Tuesday.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose after the Fed's decision. Its yield, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.73 percent from 3.82 percent late Tuesday.
The dollar dropped against most other major currencies, while gold prices turned higher.
Crude oil for June delivery fell $2.17 to settle at $113.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling more than $3 a barrel on Tuesday.
The Commerce Department estimated yesterday that the gross domestic product rose at a modest seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.6 percent during the first quarter. However, many economists had forecast a lower rise in first-quarter GDP -- some had even predicted a contraction.
Another report that beat lowered expectations came from General Motors Corp., whose quarterly loss of $3.3 billion due to supplier strike and weak U.S. sales was milder than Wall Street predicted. Shares of the Dow component jumped $2, or 9.4 percent, to $23.20.


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Just a few days ago I celebrated 40, with a nice mix of guests at something that I called a learning party.
A learning party is something a bit more than just a party and a bit less than an unconference birthday (thanks, Ton and Elmine for the inspiration!). It's a party with fun, food and workshops where everyone can learn something new from other guests.
It worked well and was a fun experience. I think for me that was a time-and-place-bound prototype of something that I want to build in my life. I have no idea what exactly that would be, but looking back at the party I can see a few ingredients of it:
- Crossing boundaries (well, some traits you never lose 🙂 – fields, languages, ages. The age one is an important one – creating a learning environment for adults and kids together, where everyone can get something, despite of different needs and capabilities.
- Pulse, bringing focus and relaxation together, acting in a relaxed manner. Structure and routines, and, at the same time being in the moment, flexibility and improvisation.
- Holistic, not focusing primarily on a cognitive domain, but doing things with body and emotions as well.


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Where Kerry Stands on Iraq
A Kerry-English translation.
If you've had trouble figuring out where John Kerry stands on Iraq, today is your lucky day. The senator finally clarified his position in a speech at New York University. Here's a summary.
1. "Iraq was a profound diversion from" the war on terror. This puts Kerry squarely at odds with President Bush, who says the invasion was a blow against terror.
2. Kerry voted for war authority to scare Saddam Hussein into allowing inspections. In Kerry's words, "Congress was right to give the president the authority. … This president—any president—would have needed the threat of force to act effectively. … The idea was simple. We would get the weapons inspectors back in to verify whether or not Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. And we would convince the world to speak with one voice to Saddam: disarm or be disarmed. … Instead, the president rushed to war without letting the weapons inspectors finish their work." This account is consistent with all but one of Kerry's previous statements on Iraq. But it doesn't explain how Kerry would have enforced a U.N. Security Council threat to "disarm" Saddam—or what Kerry would have done if Saddam, rather than Bush, had refused to let the inspectors "finish their work." Nor does it explain how Kerry would have determined that the work was, wasn't, or could never be "finished."
3. The United States shouldn't have invaded Iraq. Kerry asks, "Is [Bush] really saying that if we knew there were no imminent threat, no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to al-Qaida, the United States should have invaded Iraq? My answer is no—because a Commander-in-Chief's first responsibility is to make a wise and responsible decision to keep America safe." Kerry has often said that he wouldn't have invaded Iraq the way Bush did. But this is his clearest statement that he wouldn't have invaded, period. Bush depicts this as a reversal of what Kerry said a month ago. That depiction is false.
4. We should have "tightened the noose" instead. Kerry says, "I would have tightened the noose and continued to pressure and isolate Saddam Hussein—who was weak and getting weaker—so that he would pose no threat to the region or America." Kerry doesn't explain how he would have done so, given the Security Council's itch to lift the Iraq sanctions.
5. Bush's unilateral conduct of the war has cost us lives and money. Kerry cites 1,000 dead American troops, 90 percent of the coalition casualties, and $200 billion.
6. The war has impaired our ability to confront graver threats. These are what economists call "opportunity costs": Saddam was a problem, but other problems were worse, and now it'll be harder to solve them. Specifically:
A) The war diverted us from pursuing Osama Bin Laden. In Kerry's words, it "diverted our focus and forces from the hunt for those responsible for Sept. 11."
B) It diverted us from the two worst members of the "Axis of Evil." Kerry says it "took our attention and resources away from other, more serious threats" such as "the emerging nuclear danger in Iran" and "North Korea, which actually has weapons of mass destruction, including a nuclear arsenal, and is building more under this president's watch."
C) Bush's false statements about Iraq squander the credibility we need to confront these graver threats. According to Kerry, "the American people are less likely to trust this administration if it needs to summon their support to meet real and pressing threats to our security. Abroad, other countries will be reluctant to follow America when we seek to rally them against a common menace." This argument applies to Bush's postwar statements about Iraqi links to al-Qaida, as well as to his prewar statements about Iraqi WMD.
7. We're worse off than we were before the war. This is what Howard Dean said last year. At the time, Kerry charged that Dean "didn't even know that it was good to get rid of Saddam Hussein." Dean's position was relative (that capturing Saddam was good, but not worth the direct costs and opportunity costs); Kerry misrepresented it as absolute (that capturing Saddam wasn't good). Now Kerry is embracing Dean's position. "Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell. But that was not, in itself, a reason to go to war," says Kerry. "We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure." He adds that "the invasion of Iraq has made us less secure and weaker in the war against terrorism."
In response, Bush is already doing to Kerry what Kerry did to Dean: misrepresenting the critic of the war as doubting that in absolute terms, it was good to get rid of Saddam.
8. Bush's pre-emption doctrine is running amok. On Friday, prompted by a weapons-inspection report that said Saddam intended to build WMD before the war but didn't have them, Bush said Saddam "had the capability of making weapons, and he could have passed that capability on to the enemy. And that is a risk we could not afford to take." Kerry points out: "Thirty-five to forty countries have greater capability to build a nuclear bomb than Iraq did in 2003. Is President Bush saying we should invade them?"
9. Bush keeps saying things that aren't true. Bush says Kerry habitually contradicts himself. Kerry's answer is that Bush habitually contradicts the facts. In his speech, Kerry cites Bush's claims about Iraq's WMD (contradicted by Bush's chief inspector), its links to al-Qaida (contradicted by the 9/11 commission), the trustworthiness of Ahmad Chalabi (contradicted by recent intelligence), and a host of postwar conditions—Iraqis' embrace of their liberators; the adequacy of the current number of troops; the size and readiness of postwar Iraqi security forces, and the trend of postwar fighting—all of which are contradicted by data and independent reporting on the ground.
10. Bush fires aides who tell the truth. According to Kerry, "the only officials who lost their jobs over Iraq were the ones who told the truth. Gen. Shinseki said it would take several hundred thousand troops to secure Iraq. He was retired. Economic adviser Larry Lindsey said that Iraq would cost as much as $200 billion. He was fired."
11. Kerry changes his mind when the evidence requires it. "It is never easy to discuss what has gone wrong while our troops are in constant danger. But it's essential if we want to correct our course," says Kerry. "I know this dilemma firsthand. After serving in war, I returned home to offer my own personal voice of dissent. I did so because I believed strongly that we owed it [to] those risking their lives to speak truth to power."
Kerry doesn't draw the contrast explicitly, because he's afraid of being called a flip-flopper again. But if you agree that he's an equivocator (I do, though I'd call him a leaner, not a flipper), this is the most charitable explanation: When presented with evidence that he's wrong, Kerry changes his mind. Bush doesn't—and the latter propensity is more dangerous than the former.
12. Iraq is now part of the war on terror. It wasn't before we invaded, but now it's "becoming a sanctuary for a new generation of terrorists who someday could hit the United States," says Kerry. This is the sort of distinction Bush loves to mock because it sounds fishy until you think about it. But both halves of the statement can be true, and in fact, they are. The problem is that Kerry doesn't clarify how the latter truth should guide us.
13. Use money, programs, and financial favors to get more done in Iraq. Kerry complains that Bush "prohibited any nation from participating in reconstruction efforts that wasn't part of the original coalition." He urges Bush to "give other countries a stake in Iraq's future by encouraging them to help develop Iraq's oil resources and by letting them bid on contracts." Translation: Give them a cut of the action. He says Bush should spend money more quickly on "high visibility, quick impact projects" that will "relieve the conditions that contribute to the insurgency." Kerry argues that "an Iraqi with a job is less likely to shoot at our soldiers." He says Bush should "expand the security forces training program inside and outside Iraq" and "use more Iraqi contractors and workers."
Solicitousness, spending, job training, public employment, crime prevention through economic aid. It sounds a lot like domestic liberalism. I'm sure Kerry would object to that simplification of his position. I'm sure he thinks all of his views are more complicated than I've outlined here. But we're about to have an election. We need a clear picture of how Kerry's position on Iraq differs from Bush's. This is it.


text:
Yes, you can freeze extra embryos. Some feritlity clinics are capable of freezing extra viable embryos and storing them for you. There will be a fee assessed for freezing and annual storage.
The capacity of cryopreserving extra embryos PROVIDES couples the opportunity to participate in additional attempts of pregnancy without undertaking ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval each time.
If couples have additional frozen embryos after they have completed treatment, they can choose to store the embryos for the unforeseeable future, destroy them, or gracefully donate them to other Intended Parents.
When to Consider Freezing Embryos?
When fresh embryo transfers are not meeting your goals, frozen embryo transfer may be the key. If you have an exceeding amount of frozen embryos ready for your next attempt, the frozen embryos are now immediately available to be thawed and transferred.
Once your Surrogacy Journey is complete and a birth is reached, you can choose to expand your family with a new baby brother or sister in the future if you choose to freeze embryos.
Either of these instances of freezing extra embryos will save you VALUABLE time, money, and most remarkably, you eliminate the physical and emotional pressures of doing the entire IVF cycle all over again.


text:
Hello My Name Is...
Jennifer White
5th Grade Teacher
I'm so excited to begin my 13th year of teaching. I received my Bachelor of Science from the University of Montevello and a Master of Arts in Elementary Education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I live in Kimberly with my husband and three children.


text:
Stocks ended near session lows Thursday pressured by a handful of weak economic data and as some Fed officials stated their openness to tapering the central bank's bond-buying program in the coming months.
(Read More: After-Hours Buzz: DELL, JCP & More)
Stocks took a leg lower in the final hour of trading after San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams said the central bank could begin easing up on the monetary gas pedal this summer and end its bond buys late this year if the job market improves. Earlier this morning, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said the central bank should reduce asset purchases starting next month.
"Maybe the Williams comment was a catalyst, but it's not like he said 'I want to taper now' and I think the market responded to that," said a trader. "The voting members stayed dovish and the non-dovish members talked about tapering."
(Read More: Fed 'Tapering' Talk Getting Louder)


text:
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Change the way you think and ask us for advice on how your practice can evolve and perform even better than before, increase productivity and better overall communication. Your employees and your patients will have a better experience in your dental office and you will finally have the work-life balance you've always dreamed of…all by having the right technology and the right mindset.
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We will integrate all of your dental office's current line of business applications like Eaglesoft, Dentrix, Curve, Softdent and any other applications your office uses with the optimal hardware infrastructure. We make your workflow easier by optimizing your technology. Your employees can spend less time bogged down with time-consuming tasks and more time assisting patients and giving them the best customer service possible.
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text:
Dale Jr. Nation was established back in the Summer of 2011 by a group of loyal Dale Jr. fans that used to congregate each race weekend on the old NASCAR.com forums. This place was founded to give us a place where we could freely engage in conversation away from trolls and an over abundance of moderation. We have just one main rule here at Dale Jr. Nation –
Be Respectful to One Another


text:
The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel Win Travel + Leisure SMITTY Award 2014 for Best Contest/Giveaway
'Find Your Island' brought the destination to life through Google Glass.Read More
'Find Your Island' brought the destination to life through Google Glass.Read More
Skift has selected MMGY Global Vice President of Content and Social Strategy, Robert Patterson, to its Skift30 list of the travel industry's top online movers and shakers.Read More
This year, we're arriving in Huntsville, Alabama for #SoMeT13US in style.Read More
Augmented reality and travel discovery have come to Google Glass. Niantic Labs, a Google owned company has developed and released Field Trip for Glass.Read More
"Okay Glass" is a phrase I am starting to get used to uttering along with the awkward looks that come along with it.Read More
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text:
We took a day trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium yesterday, in an attempt to try and get rid of some of the stress that's been accumulating for the past three weeks. I love the aquarium, and have been a regular visitor for over a decade. My kids are crazy about the place too. The funny thing was though, for my wife, the whole trip was more stressful than relaxing. There are always a lot of people there, and it's tough to move through such a mass of humanity. We also hit so much road work that it eventually just became a joke. There comes a point in certain activities that are meant to be relaxing where, for whatever reason, the activity becomes the source of more stress.
One example that came up in a conversation with a friend was certain video games like Command and Conquer, that are based on a real-time strategy method of play. According to wikipedia, Real-time strategy games are classified as follows:
Real-time strategy titles do not involve "turns" like turn-based strategy video or board games (such as chess). Rather, game time progresses in "real time". It is continuous rather than turn-by-turn and all players may interact with the game environment at any time. This is in many cases a very distinct form of play, as mere seconds of distraction could give the enemy an advantage (contrasting to turn-based where the opponent cannot counter until the player is done).
My friend is a master of games like Command and Conquer. He keeps track of everything that's happening on the map, and upgrades his units while planning attacks and reinforcing his defenses. I, on the other hand, stick at real-time strategy games. I'm excellent at turn-based games, where I can plan and have no worries about something happening during my turn, but real-time strategy games just stress me out. Here is a perfect example of an activity that is relaxing for one person and stressful for another.
Have you ever played a game with people who became so competitive that the game was no longer fun? A situation like that can turn relaxing and fun into stressful and tiresome in a matter of moments. I have some friends that I simply will not play certain games with anymore, because it always ends up being too stressful. Some people thrive on that kind of competition and rivalry, but I am not one of those people. I just want to have a good time while I play. I don't want the world to end if I get up and go to the bathroom or want a snack. I play to relax, hence the name of this site. Note that this makes reference to my old play2relax site. Wow, Jeff is awesome at choosing names for websites said nobody ever.
Here are some suggestions for keeping the chocolate relaxation out of your stress peanut butter:
- Identify what type of games or activities stress you out and avoid them.
- Try and anticipate situations where you might get stressed out while playing and come up with a strategy to deal with the problem.
- Be honest with yourself and the people you are with about how you are feeling. Let people know that their behavior is causing you stress so that you give them an opportunity to do something about it.
- Laugh often. Laughter is a great way to release stress, and we really just don't laugh enough. Just let it out. Life is pretty funny.
Now if you are one of the "I like chocolate relaxation in my stress peanut butter!" then you just go out and have fun. Just don't hurt anyone.


text: Hi: We are headed to Seattle for a few nights just before Christmas, staying at the Grand Hyatt on a holiday special. Someone here told me they like a "Thai restaurant near the EMP" (which I learned is the Experience Music Project). Anyone possibly know what this might be? And if so, what kind of atmosphere it has. We need places for three dinners including Christmas Eve which we do not celebrate, so non-tradional, ethnic, even trendy vegetarian (Cafe Flora?) or seafood as we are not meat eaters.


text:
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At Qredits the entrepreneur and his or her plan are our central focus. We are personally involved with our clients. We visit the customer's home and together we look at the plans and possibilities. We think along, keep in touch and we are flexible.
Qredits wants to make a contribution to society. Our goal is to make entrepreneurship accessible. In addition, we are a non-profit foundation. Qredits wants to help people realize their passion and if needed give them a second chance.
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text:
Senior Citizens Run Prostitution Ring In New Jersey
New Jersey police arrested two elderly residents on suspicion of running a prostitution ring out of their senior citizen housing complex, Vincente Tibbs in Englewood.
According to Daily Mail, the tip was made to police after residents complained of addicts roaming their 152-unit building.
James Parham, 75, admitted to police that he was offering prostitutes to his younger neighbors for sex. Parham's cohort Cheryl Chaney, 66, was charged with possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
A third party, school crossing guard Selma McDuffie, 54, has been suspended and banned from visiting the complex.
Read on at VIBE Vixen.


text:
The Jedi High Council was yet another bunch of drunk hippies. They helped the Jedi Order to flourish by wasting some Sith. They believed that the Jedi could remove the Sith from the galaxy with love and LSD. They also started to smuggle duff beer back into the galaxy after it was banned in The Drinking Crisis era. Some Jedi on the council were:
- Oppo Rancisis, who was a cross between a poodle and a worm.
- Yoda
- Mace Windu, who was the only black member of the council. Actually, that's not too bad, seeing as the rest of them were green, yellow, and barf purple.
- Plo Koon
- Kit Fisto


text:
Friday, February 27, brought the terribly sad news that Leonard Nimoy, the actor who will always be known in IT circles as Star Trek's Mr. Spock, had passed away. For a lot of people in IT, Star Trek was incredibly important. It's not unusual to hear IT professionals say that Star Trek first got them interested in computers or technology. And over the past half century, much of technology was influenced by the franchise.
We don't have the big ones -- we aren't getting beamed up or traveling at warp speeds (and we don't have flying cars either, George Jetson!). But as we remember Nimoy and what his Spock meant to us, it's worth considering the ways in which we are living in a Star Trek universe, as well as some things that the franchise just got plain wrong.
Mobile Devices
When it comes to mobile phones, it was the aesthetics that seemed to be derived directly from starship Enterprise gear. At least this was true a dozen years ago or so, when flip phones were in the ascendant. Many of them were highly evocative of Star Trek communicators. I don't think that was a coincidence.
When Star Trek: The Next Generation brought the franchise back to TV, the communicators had evolved from handhelds to wearables: a shirt pin that looked like a Starfleet insignia. The tech world is really into wearables right now, and I'm thinking that a lapel pin or brooch that draws on the Star Trek influence would be a more efficient model for an interface than a wristwatch (à la Dick Tracy) or eyewear.
Speaking of eyewear, there are similarities between Geordi La Forge's VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) and Google Glass. Both transmitted data via the optic nerve, both were used to share far more data than would otherwise be available -- and both ended up getting replaced because they were too awkward.
The input method for a shirtfront device is obvious: You would talk to it. And that brings us to ...
Voice Recognition
When Enterprise crew members needed something from the computer, they asked for it. In 2015, voice recognition has made great strides, and both Google and Apple have made it possible for us to talk to our phones. Voice recognition still isn't as seamless as it appeared to be on Star Trek, but it's gotten good enough that we might trust it more than we should. I say this because when I dictate an email through Apple's Siri, it gets so much of it right that I often don't bother to proofread the message carefully. A few embarrassments have resulted.
That kind of voice recognition didn't exist back in Spock's day or even when TNG made its debut. I remember, back in the late 1980s, interviewing an IBM fellow who was talking about the speed of an upcoming workstation. In those days, we still used MIPS -- millions of instructions per second -- to describe CPU speed. And he said the next machine would top 100 MIPS. What's the significance of that? I asked. He replied, "That's when we'll begin to deliver voice recognition."
I wish we could get our phones' attention the way the Enterprise crew could access the computer. ("Computer, calculate the trajectories of all Class M planets within 500 million kilometers.") True, Apple has introduced a "Hey, Siri" feature -- say those words and your phone responds. But it only works when the mobile device is plugged into a power supply. I understand the reasoning for this: If Siri is constantly on the alert for you to say, "Hey, Siri," that's a huge power drain. But I'd be happier if Apple gave users the option of enabling "Hey, Siri" whenever they wanted to. If I'm driving and my battery is 100% charged and I know I will soon be at a place where I can recharge it, I would love to be able to get my iPhone to do things without me touching it. And the fact is that when I am able to plug in my phone, I tend to be in a situation where it's easy for me to manually summon Siri.
(If I have the attention of any Apple developers right now, let me just lodge a complaint about the home button. Sometimes, in activating my phone, I'll unintentionally hold that button down long enough to instead activate Siri. That's not a big deal, unless I'm in a public place with no reception. Then, I and everyone around me is greeted by a very loud "Siri is not available." My discomfort about this might not influence you to devise a new way of summoning Siri, but maybe if I couch it in Star Trek terms, you'll be more responsive. Suppose Spock were on an away mission, making an incognito visit to an inhabited planet that has yet to develop much beyond rudimentary technologies. He holds the home button down too long on his Starfleet iPhone, and everyone hears it say, "Siri is not available." So much for the Prime Directive!)
The Replicator
You can do a lot with 3D printers these days, including some rather amazing medical applications. True, no one is replicating food yet, not even anything as straightforward as a raw potato. But you could easily fabricate a spare part for your spaceship.
With this one, IT in 2015 has gone far beyond what was envisioned for the 24th century. Enterprise crew members used geolocation to get someone's current location or, more rarely, to find a specific cabin on the ship. The way we're using geolocation today, we could have authenticated aliens who back in the old series would fool the system every time.
This reminds me of instances when the Enterprise computer could have been more helpful. In the episode A Taste of Armageddon, the computer knew that there was a fake Capt. Kirk, but it didn't volunteer that information, instead waiting until someone thought to ask. I guess you could look at this as predicting how Microsoft technology would work.
RFID/NFC Chip Injected into the Body
The show seemed to nail this one. Compare today's reality with how the show envisioned it 47 years ago.
IT Attitudes
I can never see this scene without being impressed by how perfectly it depicts a CIO being called on the carpet for a failing IT rollout -- and opting to defend the creation rather than concede the error.
One Big Goof-up
In a memorable plot point, Spock asked the computer to calculate the precise value of pi to keep busy an evil entity controlling the computer.
The problem: Why would a system that refuses to accept instructions about navigation and turbolift controls suddenly feel a need to obey a calculation function? Wouldn't the entity be more likely to say "You and what army, Pointy Ears?"
Personally, though, it isn't really a Star Trek technology that I want to use in my everyday life. There are times, though, when a Vulcan nerve pinch would really come in handy.
Evan Schuman has covered IT issues for a lot longer than he'll ever admit. The founding editor of retail technology site StorefrontBacktalk, he's been a columnist for CBSNews.com, RetailWeek and eWeek. Evan can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com and he can be followed at twitter.com/eschuman. Look for his column every other Tuesday.


text:
Retainer is the word we throw around a lot as attorneys, but it's a word that many people who haven't dealt with a lawyer before may not fully understand, which is what this article is all about.
One note that is confusing is that a retainer actually refers to two different things, one is the written document, or contract that a client uses to hire a lawyer and the other is what this article is about, the amount of money required to start a case.
How Divorce Lawyer Charge
Before I talk about a retainer, let's talk about how divorce lawyers are paid. Generally there are two ways in which a family lawyer will charge for their services:
- Flat Fee
- Hourly
A flat fee retainer, which is much more common in the criminal defense world than in the divorce world, is where a lawyer will charge say $10,000 to handle a case and the client will not pay anymore (or less) than that amount. On it's face it sounds like that may be the best way to go, you write one check and you're done. I disagree.
I've been a family lawyer for nearly 20 years now and I know that the lawyers who do charge a flat fee for family law are not necessarily the best because they aren't prepared and don't put the time in for a case and it's hard to blame them. The reason is that type of lawyer knows if they spend 1 hour or 100 hours on the case they will make exactly the same amount of money and while most lawyers are honest and hard working and will try their best to help you on the case, some do not and that is where the flat fee is not going to help you have a prepared and ready to work for you attorney. Personally, I advise against flat fee retainers for a divorce case.
Hourly fees are much more common in the divorce world and that is where you pay your lawyer by .1 or .25 increments of an hour for the work performed. The lawyer keeps track of work they do and every month the client will receive a bill with that money withdrawn from his or her trust account.*
So, what does that have to do with what the heck a retainer is? Well, the retainer is the initial amount of money that the lawyer requires to start the case. For example many divorce lawyers will require $5,000 before they will start to work on the case. This $5,000 would be the initial retainer which the lawyer will put into their trust account.
Trust Account
One thing to keep in mind is that money is still yours. This means that if you either finish the case and it takes less time than anticipated or you are planning on changing your attorney you should get that money back. Also, that is not the total for your case, just enough to start the case.
You should also get a monthly accounting of the work performed and the amount left in your trust account. Most divorce lawyers like to have the trust account full before significant elements of the case, say trial, mediation or an appeal. Don't be surprised if your lawyer asks for more money in the trust account before these sort of events occur.
One way to think about a retainer is a down payment, it may cost more, it may cost less, but that is the amount the lawyer is requiring to start the case.
So there you go, a short course on exactly what the heck a divorce retainer is and where it goes. If you have any comments feel free to post below and I'll try my best to answer them.
Jason Kohlmeyer
Mankato, Minnesota
*a trust account is a special approved bank account set up by the lawyer under MN rule of Professional conduct 1.5.


text:
Lanier Names Scott Braynard VP of Sales for Lanier Professional Services
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Press release from the issuing companyATLANTA--March 24, 2004-- Lanier Worldwide, Inc. today named Scott Braynard as Vice President, Sales for Lanier Professional Services (LPS), a group dedicated to helping customers reengineer and outsource non-core business activities -- such as fleet management, mailroom, and network management -- to reduce costs, improve operational flexibility, and increase service quality on an enterprise scale. "Scott brings strong sales expertise and deep market understanding to his position with LPS," said Randy Humphrey, Vice President of LPS. "I am confident Scott's leadership will enable us to serve customers even more effectively, and I am excited to have him on board." Braynard began his career with Lanier in 1987 as a commercial sales representative serving the Chicago, Ill., area. Since that time, Braynard has served in a long list of positions of increasing responsibility, including sales manager and district manager. He won numerous sales achievement awards as well as Lanier's "District Manager of the Year" award. In 1993, Braynard relocated to Lanier's headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., to manage high-volume products. Later, he became marketing director for digital products, then national director for color and printing solutions. Most recently, Braynard served as director of Strategic Marketing.
Industry News
Copyright © 2018 WhatTheyThink. All Rights Reserved


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text:
In professional wrestling, anything that happened more than three months ago is no longer true canon.
Professional Wrestling's version of Negative Continuity and Retcon.
The unwritten rule states that any events that took place more than three months ago do not need to be considered Canon. This creates interesting situations where two wrestlers who were recently at each other's throats are now the best of friends. It also provides a means for the writers to not have to explain radical changes in anyone's gimmick (went from a millionaire playboy to a voodoo priest and back again? No problem!).
Japanese professional wrestling rarely uses this trope due to its usual lack of gimmicky elements and the particular star-making dynamics of the discipline; a wrestler's career is expected to be well documented from rookie status, and his alliances, enmities and changes of character are meant to fit in a realistic continuity. In contrast, Mexican lucha libre often enforces an extreme version of the rule, allowing wrestlers to re-debut with new masked identities if needed and treating every mask as if it was a different wrestler.
Note that this is different from the Seven Year Rule; after three months, the aftereffects of an angle can be forgotten, but after seven years, the angle itself can be recycled wholesale.
Professional Wrestling
- An early storyline involving Kane established him as being a deeply disturbed, physically scarred, mute, masked monster. Throughout the years, Kane evolved from being mute, to requiring an electrolarynx to speak, to being able to speak normally. When he was eventually unmasked, his face was completely unscarred. Surprise!
- And in Kane's 2010 feud with The Undertaker, he claimed that Undertaker removed his mask. They then showed footage of the time Undertaker did remove Kane's mask (but he put it back on the next day, it was two years before his actual unmasking). WWE probably wants people to forget about the Special Effects Failure of Kane's real unmasking.
- Christian and Edge were initially referred to as being on-screen Kayfabe brothers when they were together as a tag team. When they semi-reunited a few years after their breakup, they were only said to be best friends.
- Eddie Fatu started in WWE as a street thug named Jamal, and was a few years later revamped as Umaga, a Wild Samoan. It apparently runs in the family, as Solofa Fatu started out as a Wild Samoan (as half of The Headshrinkers), then became a reformed gang member trying to "make a difference", and eventually became Rikishi, the hip-hop dancing, thong-clad sumo wrestler.
- This rule did lead to a Crowning Moment of Funny when Triple H (then a good guy) got confronted by all the crap that he pulled on his team-mates when he was a bad guy.
Triple H: "... my bad, sorry."
- John Hennigan was one of the contestants on WWE Tough Enough 3, and ended up winning the competition and a WWE contract. He made a couple of appearances on Monday Night Raw under his real name before adopting a series of stage names, eventually settling on Johnny Nitro. Fast forward to July 2007, when Nitro announced that he was dropping the "Johnny Nitro" name and would now go by his given name — John Morrison.
- ...which was later changed, around the time he turned babyface, to be a deliberate homage to Jim Morrison.
- Also, the three months does have some leeway if there's a contract dispute, a severe injury, or a star has scheduled major surgery. In these cases, storylines simply disappear and aren't even mentioned during shows. Nowadays, the promotion will usually put up a press release on their website explaining what happened, but the in-show announcers will completely ignore it.
- An injury or surgery can also often completely change how the crowd is to react to the wrestler in question. A main-eventer can be the dirtiest most unlikable cheater in the entire federation, get injured and be out for a while then come back as the biggest babyface around.
- Inverted with Randy Orton, who became a heel through his infamous "Randy News Network" promos during his injury downtime.
- An injury or surgery can also often completely change how the crowd is to react to the wrestler in question. A main-eventer can be the dirtiest most unlikable cheater in the entire federation, get injured and be out for a while then come back as the biggest babyface around.
- One of the major positives of small independent Ring of Honor is that it does not use this rule. A lot of fans were pleased when Kevin Steen & El Generico continued to despise the Briscoe Brothers a year after their rivalry, even though both teams were now Faces.
- ROH is not exempt though. Just one year after an extended, gruesomely violent feud that included a few cases of attempted murder (one incident including the use of Drano gel), Homicide and Colt Cabana became tag team partners to take on the partnership of Adam Pearce and Brent Albright.
- Spike Dudley gets a random WWE title "shot" (obvious he was going to lose; the main event with current holder Kurt Angle was already being publicized). This causes the other Dudleys to turn on him out of jealousy as they had never been given a title shot, a pretty mediocre reason to break up a group, especially since Bubba had been given an equally-random title shot just months earlier.
- When Vince McMahon revealed himself as Higher Power, his wife Linda and daughter Stephanie gave their share of power in the company to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in revenge (the Higher Power had organized Stephanie's kidnapping by The Undertaker.) At the 1999 King of the Ring, Austin lost his power in a ladder match against Vince and Shane McMahon who then held all the power over the company. Months later, Vince and Shane underwent a face turn and were feuding with Triple H. Stephanie then turned on Vince and married Triple H, forcing Vince and Shane into exile. Triple H then took over the WWF, citing Stephanie's share of the stocks in the company... which she technically didn't have anymore.
- In 2001, Stephanie bought ECW by selling the stock that she no longer owned.
- Kane's 2010 rivalry with The Undertaker, which ended with Undertaker being buried alive (itself a good example of the Fleeting Demographic Rule) was brushed under the rug and forgotten when Undertaker returned around four months later. Maybe he was going to try and avenge himself, but before Undertaker could say anything Triple H waltzed in from out of nowhere and challenged him at Wrestlemania, so the whole storyline was forgotten. Though Undertaker's new theme song "Ain't No Grave" seemed to refer to it.
- Not to mention that WWE went entirely out of its way not to acknowledge that Undertaker had already fought Triple H at Wrestlemania before (at Wrestlemania 17). In fact they made it seem like Undertaker and Triple H had never wrestled each other at all period.
- Kofi Kingston originally debuted with a Jamaican gimmick, speaking with an accent, but eventually dropped the accent and started wearing hairstyles similar in tribal African communities. He was even being called from his home country - Ghana. This wasn't acknowledged until his partners in a team-against-team feud started to argue. He tried to calm them down in an American accent. Triple H interrupts him and asks, "Aren't you supposed to be Jamaican? What happened to your accent?"
Jey: Hey mon, ain't you Kofi Kingston? Didn't you used to be Jamaican?Jimmy: Naw, you was Ja-Fakin!
- Years later, in 2016, Kofi and Promoted Fanboy and wrestling cool nerd Bayley referenced it as being part of a character, as opposed to his actual identity. Earlier in that same year, The New Day tag team also referenced it via a time travel promo making an unintended stop in 2009, resulting in the return of his old theme, accent, and catchphrases.
- This was brought up again on July 4th, 2017, during the New Day's rap battle with The Usos, where they asked:
- Trish Stratus turned heel on Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XX on March 14, 2004. Exactly THREE MONTHS LATER, on June 14, it was announced on Raw that Lita was "pregnant".note It was almost as if WWE had been waiting for the right moment to transfer the heat from Trish to the traditionally virtuous Face Lita. While not acknowledging how much time had passed since her turn, Trish pretty much nailed the irony of the situation.
TRISH: "Imagine, and they call ME a slut."
- Oddly enough Trish's betrayal of Jericho was brought up as a Continuity Nod when she guest hosted Raw. Only this time Trish was the face and Jericho the heel, still enforcing the trope somewhat.
- Completely averted by CHIKARA, since they have a strong emphasis on continuity to the point that events from years earlier still play a part in whatever is happening at a given time. As an example, the debut of the BDK at the end of the 2009 Season Finale Three-Fisted Tales, November 22, 2009, had roots going back to, at least 2007 and was connected to so many different storylines that time doesn't permit the listing of all of them here.
- In 2012 The Big Show managed to secure an 'ironclad contract', which made it impossible for any authority figure to unjustly fire him. In 2014 he betrayed his allies in order to prevent an authority figure's attempt to unjustly fire him.
- From April 10 to October 22 in 2017, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman had a brutal feud in which each literally tried to murder the other (Braun overturning an ambulance with injured Roman inside, Roman later locking Braun into an ambulance and crashing it into a production truck). The feud was never actually resolved; Braun simply redirected his attention to destroying Kane and The Miz when they betrayed him and also tried to murder him by tossing him into the trash compactor of a garbage truck, [turning Braun face in the process. And then on the April 30, 2018 episode of Monday Night Raw, Braun randomly runs out to save Roman from a beat-down by Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Jinder Mahal, apparently solely because they're both faces now.
- Degrassi: The Next Generation flip flops on this at times. Large Wham Episode events carry over to later seasons easier than minor interactions. The largest event to get glossed over was Craig and Manny's aborted pregnancy. However the most obvious are friendships that reappear without any word when the two had a very vocal break-up (platonic or otherwise). The more recent seasons haven't been as bad about this. There are still moments (Clare and Jenna in All Falls Down, is a minor recent example).
- Similarly, Boy Meets World had the unofficial rule of "If it was more than a season ago (or prior to the most recent Retool), it didn't happen". Pretty much the entire first season was ignored except in a one-shot Call-Back in the fifth season finale, and several storylines in later seasons were ripped off from earlier ones. Two major Season 5 arcs (Cory and Topanga break up, Shawn gets his first serious girlfriend) had already been done in Season 3, but were treated as if they were unprecedented.
- In the Veluna region of Living Greyhawk there was a well-loved NPC named The Traveler who frequently (twice a year) needed rescuing from the PCs due to the dangerous places she traveled to. In Year Four of the campaign, it was ret-conned to claim that she had been evil all along. Her class, level, and spell selection changed; as did her personality. Only the name remained the same, although the Word of God insisted that it was the same NPC.


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Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies
Chocolate Lover's Delight
6 Tablespoons of melted Butter (use real butter )
8 oz of dark chocolate or a mix of dark and light
2 eggs room temp.
1 Tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon of corn starch
½ Teaspoon of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Once you melt butter and chocolate in different containers you can mix all of the above together then add your butter melted and then your chocolate melted mix all together. Add eggs last when the mix is a little cooled off . Whisk the eggs into the batter and mix well until mix becomes a little glossy pout in a small square cake pan and bake for about 22-30 min watch them don't let them burn….let cool for about 20 minutes very moist brownies soft. Add a scoop of frozen yogurt and it's a fantastic dessert for any occasion!
Get more recipes in Dr. Kathleen Hartford's Cookbook
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For more than two decades, Dr. Kathleen A. Hartford has treated and nurtured thousands of individuals through her integrated wellness approaches. As patients reclaim their health, she coaches them on how to maintain their youthful vitality with practical guidance on nutrition, exercise and stress management. Read more...
5237 Veterans Lane
Natrona Heights, PA 15065
Our products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.


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Teacher of Geography, Woking, Surrey
Closing date:
Start date: ASAP
Contract type: Full Time
Contract term: Permanent
Suitable for NQTs: Yes
Bishop David Brown School is seeking to appoint a highly motivated and inspirational teacher of Geography. This will be a permanent full-time position. There may also be an opportunity to have an additional responsibility in the school.
Bishop David Brown is a small 11-16 mixed school with friendly staff near Woking in Surrey. We are wholly committed to go the extra mile for our young people, not only in the classroom but with our range of extracurricular opportunities that we offer. At our recent Ofsted inspection the school was rated as Good.
The successful applicant will have high expectations of all students and a strong desire to succeed. For the right individual this post presents an unrivalled opportunity to make a real difference and a lasting contribution to the success of Geography at Bishop David Brown School. This post is suitable to new entrants to the profession as well as experienced teachers.
This school can offer:
• Engaged and well-behaved students;
• supportive management structure;
• opportunities to develop and progress your career through our comprehensive CPD programme;
• a well-structured programme of induction that includes pre-start induction days and weekly support meetings; and
• an excellent package of medical and well-being support.
The successful candidate will:
• Demonstrate the skills of a good teacher;
• be able to interest, encourage and engage students;
• provide appropriate levels of challenge so that all students make good progress;
• use methods and resources that enable all students to learn effectively;
• use assessment information effectively to plan the next steps in student's learning; and make effective use of their time.
A certificate of sponsorship could be available for the successful candidate.
This is a fantastic opportunity to make a positive difference to the life experiences and achievements of our students. Visits to the school are warmly welcomed. Please contact Mrs Rebecca Daniels, HR Manager, at email@example.com to arrange an appointment.
Bishop David Brown is a rapidly improving school with excellent opportunities for professional development for the successful candidate.
Under the leadership of a motivated and supportive leadership team the staff are offered every opportunity to dev...
Contact Bishop David Brown School
Thanks for your interest in this role.
Simply fill in the form below to ask any questions, request a call, or schedule a school visit.
This field is required


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Approximately once a year, a new Geneious version is released. A new version (eg RX) has new features and functionality as well as improvements. If you do not have a valid subscription you must purchase an upgrade to use a newer version.
Our development team support the two most current versions of Geneious and will release updates (eg RX.X) to these versions. If you have purchased this version, or have a valid subscription the update is free.
You can read through a release history at the Previous Versions Page.


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You Can't Do THIS With Your e-reader...(and RIP J D Salinger)
3 comments:
- Anonymous said...
I too love books, their physicallity. MrIcy and I share eight bookcases full between us so far and I'm sure we'll have lots more.
I do read e-books that have the copyright expired (on a Windows Mobile), but I own physical copies of those books as well.
For my very, very favourite books I even go to the extent of having a hardcopy to keep and a paperback as a "reading copy" to take on the train.
Am I lame? Maybe. Do I care? No.
- January 31, 2010 at 8:51 PM
- Lola Sharp said...
Not lame. The very opposite of lame.
I join you in the massive number of books/bookcases, and owning favorites in hardback and paperback.
I am not opposed to people using e-readers (IF they ethically pay for the downloads), and I do understand why some people enjoy them and their "convenience"/space saving nature...I'm not a hater. But I will never own one. (you know what a luddite I am, unlike your tech savvy self)
Have a wonderful week.
- January 31, 2010 at 10:47 PM
- Terresa said...
I fell in love with Catcher, too. Brilliant book. RIP JD.
- February 1, 2010 at 12:05 AM
About Me
- Lola Sharp
- My name is Lola. (I'm not a showgirl) Yes, L-O-L-A Lola. It's the least of my worries. Let's move on, shall we? This blog is mostly about my misadventures on the journey to publication and beyond. My passion for lush prose, quirky characters, art, music, literature, performing arts and anything creative will be a major theme here. This journey of mine will not always be pretty. Much like rubbernecking a train wreck, I know sometimes you just can't help but look at the carnage that is often my life. So strap on your neck brace, helmet and 5-point harness and come along for the ride! Licentia poetica.
Blog Archive
- ► 2011 (25)
- ▼ 2010 (96)


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TAMIU Professor Represents TAMIU at National Convention
Texas A&M International University's Dr. Kathleen R. Pletsch De García, associate professor of English and Spanish was one of the attendees of the 2007 Phi Kappa Phi National Triennial Convention in Orlando, Fla. this past August. Attending the convention as a delegate, Pletsch De García is a member of the TAMIU Phi Kappa Phi chapter and has been since her induction into the society in 1994.
Attendees included 323 delegates, observers, guests, board members and Society headquarters office staff. The convention included presentations by Phi Kappa Phi's grant program award winners. The group collectively discussed ideas and inspirations at chapter sessions, reviewed Society business and elected a new board of directors.
TAMIU inducted the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi in November 2005. Phi Kappa Phi is one of the nation's oldest and largest all-disciplinary honor societies. The society inducts 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni each year, now in more than 300 selected colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. More than a million members have been initiated since its founding in 1897.
For additional information, please contact Dr. Thomas Mitchell at 956.326.2633 or e-mail email@example.com For more information on Phi Kappa Phi, please call 800/804-9880 or visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org
Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at email@example.com


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Accommodation and Compliance Series: Personal Assistance Services (PAS) in the Workplace
The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) receives many questions regarding personal assistance services (PAS) from employees with disabilities and their employers. This has been a difficult issue for employees who rely on PAS because employers generally are not required to provide accommodations related to services for personal needs. Employees with disabilities therefore must try to obtain these services themselves. It can be difficult for them to hire someone to come into the office a few times a day to help with personal needs or to pay for someone to come in on a full-time basis. The end result has often been no employment or loss of employment.
Recognizing that the absence of PAS as an employment support can be a significant barrier to employment within the Federal workforce, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) determined that updated regulations "were needed to enhance the employment, retention, and promotion of qualified individuals with disabilities…." On January 3, 2017, the EEOC issued updated regulations for Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 501 prohibits federal agencies from discriminating against job applicants and employees based on disability and requires agencies to engage in affirmative action for individuals with disabilities. One of the provisions of the updated Section 501 regulations requires federal agencies to provide PAS to certain employees with disabilities. The following questions and answers discuss this requirement along with general information about PAS in both the public and private sectors.


text: Quoting Peter (peter at pajamian.dhs.org): > On 02/02/11 13:48, Mike Heins wrote: > > You can do > > > > %{$Session->{discount}} = (); > > Newer versions of Interchange use the $Discounts hashref instead, so the > above code becomes: > %$Discounts = (); Either one should work, as they are the same hash reference.... > > > if you don't want to preserve the special ENTIRE_ORDER > > and ALL_ITEMS discounts. If you do, then you could run: > > delete @{$Discounts}{grep { !/^(ALL_ITEMS|ENTIRE_ORDER)$/ } keys > %$Discounts}; # Untested, but should work. Of course. But a lot of people would be surprised to find that it saves mostly typing, and not much processor power. I try and write for clarity when possible. -- Mike Heins Perusion -- Expert Interchange Consulting http://www.perusion.com/ phone +1.765.328.4479 <mike at perusion.com> "It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct from natural variation." - Bob Carter


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Appreciate the journey.
Not long ago I got philosophical about the difference between gratitude and appreciation. I think we all need more appreciation in our lives. Certainly I do.
An issue I've had for a long time is the admonishment to 'enjoy the journey'. That life isn't about the end result. It's extremely difficult to 'enjoy the journey' when you are limp and in pain, but now that I'm feeling better and moving forward with my life again, I've come back to that idea with some new insight.
By taking time to appreciate things in your life. To "to understand the worth, quality, or importance of something", really can help you to slow down and enjoy the journey by reminding you that each minute can be precious, just like the books say.
We have a practice in our house where, should you see a moment of amazing natural beauty or a particularly adorably sleeping cat, then that moment should be mentioned immediately so that the others in the area can admire and appreciate it too. This does not count as an interruption of whatever is going on around it, rather it's an elevated moment that is much more important that what was going on.
It can be very difficult to do that with more prosaic things. It's easy to give thanks for the amazing spread at a special holiday meal. We've lost, many of us, the habit of giving thanks for the smaller meals of every day. It used to be a very common part of religious observance. The understanding of religion is changing, but maybe we should look back at some of those regular observances and see what they still have to offer.
A recent topic of conversation in our house has been the untempered need in American society to increase. Every business must get bigger. Every person must become richer and more successful. My beloved's company has been small and doing extremely well. Somehow they determined they had to grow, and suddenly things haven't been doing nearly as well. The partners were all making a very nice living and running a company that did excellent work and had very happy employees. Why did they have to decide that wasn't enough?
Have we always been that way, or have we lost the understanding between wanting to be more versus wanting to have more. Certainly if I look around it isn't difficult to see that the dollar has become the bottom line for everything.
I'm pretty sure the value in the journey isn't supposed to be about the price tag. How do we get away from that? I guess I'll stroll along for a while and see if I can figure it out.


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Intel releases SSD cache acceleration software for Linux servers
Intel today released a version of its SSD-based Cache Acceleration Software (CAS) for Linux servers, which it said can offer up to 18 times the performance for read-intensive applications, such as on-line transaction processing systems.
Additionally, Intel's CAS now supports caching to NAND flash (solid-state drives and PCIe cards) in storage arrays. And it supports VMware vMotion, which allows virtual machines to migrate between systems while maintaining hot data on cache, regardless of the host machine.
"The advantage is not just to provide better performance, but ensure no matter what happens, that performance remains consistent," said Andrew Flint, Intel's CAS product manager.
Intel acquired its CAS technology in September from its buyout of Canadian startup Nevex. Nevex sold the software as CacheWorks, but Intel quickly rebranded it CAS.
The use of cache acceleration and management software for NAND flash memory is a hot market. More than a dozen vendors are shipping products, and acquisitions are on the rise. Earlier last year, SanDisk acquired FlashSoft for its flash cache acceleration and management software. That was followed by Samsung's buyout of Nvelo for its Dataplex SSD caching software. The software identifies data experiencing high levels of reads and moves it to NAND flash in the form of SSDs to boost performance.
Intel announced CAS support for Windows systems in December. The latest support, for Linux, also allows admins to select applications that will benefit from the higher performance SSDs or allow the CAS software to automatically redistribute I/O-intensive data to the flash memory.
Intel said its CAS product can target hot data on back-end storage, such as a SAN, for both Windows and Linux machines and allow virtual machine migration while maintaining high I/O performance with flash cache.
"We took the problem of the I/O bottleneck from the side of accelerating applications," Flint said. "We have technology to direct performance to applications. Because we do that, we find most of our sales are to the DBAs and the app admins at companies.
"You don't have to rearchitect or configure your applications in any way, shape or form. You don't have to do anything on backend storage," Flint continued. "Neither end even knows the caching is happening. It sits in the middle, automatically identifies hot, active data, places a copy on high-speed media and the applications by extension go faster."
Flint said on standard databases, the caching software can triple performance. On OLTP applications, which are more read intensive, performance can jump 18-fold, he said.
While application servers perform a certain amount of caching in volatile DRAM already, the amount of caching is limited by the 4GB to 8GB of memory typically on board a server. Intel's CAS software takes advantage of higher-capacity SSDs, which can have as much as a terabyte of capacity, to improve the performance for far more data.


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Watching the clear fluid being poured into my airplane's fuel tank was disconcerting to say the least. We all know that 100LL is blue, of course. And instead of the familiar smell of leaded avgas, this stuff carried the odor of a dank locker room, or a musty basement.
For more than five years, Swift Enterprises, a small start-up firm founded by Purdue University Professor John Rusek and largely staffed by grads, has been designing and producing its own form of renewable fuel meant as an unleaded replacement for 100LL. Independent laboratories including the FAA's fuel and engine center have tested Swift fuel and determined it performs as well as—and, in some areas, better than—100LL, in a variety of piston aircraft engines. More detailed tests are planned.
Teledyne Continental Motors have performed flight tests using Swift fuel in an IO-550-equipped Bonanza, and General Aviation Modifications Inc. (GAMI) has performed extensive ground tests.
Now, I was at Purdue University Airport to meet with Swift officials and—perhaps more important—to fly home to Maryland on a tank of Swift's sorghum-derived fuel. My airplane, a Van's RV–3 licensed in the Experimental category, is equipped with a stock 150-horsepower Lycoming O-320 with a fixed-pitch prop—a combination virtually identical to those found on ubiquitous Cessna, Piper, and Beech airplanes ranging from 172s to Super Cubs.
Swift is about to enter an exhaustive data-gathering period in which it will collect thousands of hours of test data from many airplanes using its fuel in flight. But my 450-nm trip from Lafayette, Indiana, to Frederick, Maryland (with a planned stop in Mansfield, Ohio) would be the longest point-to-point flight to date on Swift's fuel.
"We'll be following you on FlightAware," said John Ziulkowski, a Swift officer, researcher, and pilot. "But call us when you land. We want to know every detail."
Engine start and runup were completely normal. There's no special technique for starting an aircraft with the new fuel, and the pretakeoff procedures were the same as ever.
Acceleration on takeoff was as brisk as usual, and the rate of climb was a typically robust 1,500 fpm at 110 KIAS—even though the 20 gallons of Swift fuel added about 10 pounds compared to the six-pound-per-gallon weight of regular avgas. (Swift fuel weighs about 6.5 pounds per gallon.)
The RV–3 has single-point EGT and CHT probes, and the EGT consistently read about 75 degrees F higher than normal in cruise, while the CHT was 25 degrees F lower than normal. Swift officials attribute the differences to their fuel's higher octane rating (about 104), which causes Swift fuel to burn slower and later in the combustion process.
Level at 7,500 feet in cruise (20 inches manifold pressure, 2,450 rpm, 65 degrees OAT), I enriched the mixture slightly more than usual to keep the EGT at 1,400 degrees F or below. The CHT was 325 degrees F, and fuel burn on the 90-minute flight averaged 8.5 gph.
Swift fuel is designed to mix seamlessly with avgas, so I stopped about halfway home in Mansfield, Ohio, to blend the two. With slightly more avgas than Swift fuel in the 24-gallon tank, the hot start procedure was identical to avgas.
In cruise at 9,500 feet (19 inches manifold pressure, 2,450 rpm, 60 degrees OAT), I leaned the mixture a bit more aggressively to keep the EGT at 1,400 F or below. The CHT climbed to 340 degrees, and fuel burn on the second 90-minute flight averaged 8.2 gph.
The spark plugs in the RV–3 had been cleaned and gapped just before the flight with Swift fuel. After three hours of flying, they appeared totally unaffected.
It would have been nice to have a full engine monitor capable of measuring and collecting more detailed and precise engine performance parameters, and Swift intends to collect vast amounts of such data in future tests. The company also has acquired a twin-engine aircraft with two engine monitors and plans to fly with 100LL feeding one engine and its own fuel supplying the other.
The company is seeking to show that its fuel meets 100LL performance standards and can safely replace avgas throughout the GA fleet. Swift officials estimate the process of defining, revising, and meeting those specifications with its unleaded fuel will take up to four years. In the meantime, Swift is exploring partnerships with a variety of energy firms capable of manufacturing its product. The manufacturing process, company officials say, is far simpler than refining oil and can be done just about anywhere in the world. Sorghum, switch grass, garbage, or petroleum can be used as raw materials and distilled into the chemicals used in Swift fuel.
Swift has a pilot manufacturing plant in Indiana capable of producing about 200 gallons of its fuel a day, and company officials say they are convinced it can be manufactured in industrial quantities at a cost well below leaded avgas.
Giving Swift fuel its own color is a simple matter of adding dye, but the locker-room smell is going to stay.
It's one thing to read lab or news reports on the merits of renewable fuels—but it's especially exciting to put such a fuel in an airplane and fly it on a real cross-country trip. Swift fuel has made the leap from the purely theoretical to a real product, and it appears to hold great promise for shifting GA to an unleaded, non-petroleum-based future.
E-mail the author at [email protected].