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|Railway Preservation News
|GG-1 & Other Electrics
|Page 5 of 8
|Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Thu Jan 06, 2011 2:40 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
filmteknik wrote:
2) Saying something is beating a dead horse is basically saying a particular discussion should not be happening. As no one is forcing anyone to read this thread I take issue with anyone telling anyone not to talk about something so long as it is on topic with this board.
Those of us who have been here for a decade or more know that this topic comes up every year or two. Different person, same fantasy.
With exactly the same arguments. With exactly the same problems raised. With exactly the same reality and results. If there were a FAQ here, that topic would no doubt lead. The forum has a "search" function. (I'm not sure, but I think this is the third time I've brought up the AEM7-rebuild story.)
IF IRM is bold enough to carry out a "kitbash" rewiring of their GG1 so it can move under IRM catenary, it will happen regardless (or in spite of) of what we say here. They are competent enough to avoid the "hey, kids! let's wire 'er up to run on the IC in Chicago!" delusions.
I, for one, don't have any problem with well-thought-out, well-reasoned technical discussions on what's possible and not. But sometimes we're forced to "call a spade a spade," and simply acknowledge that we're not going to see UP restore a Big Boy for excursions, or a GG1 hauling an Amtrak excursion, at least not in the current economic, metallurgical, and regulatory environments. That's not "negativity" or "dream-squashing," it's putting the dreams in proper perspective. I'm not going to cheer on the deluded person that keeps insisting "This week, my system will win the lottery for sure!" after they've been wrong 384 weeks in a row.
|Stationary Steam [ Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:59 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
You can always not visit this thread if the topic is of no interest to you. I don't care if the same topic is discussed a dozen times. Each time it happens there are different people who partipate and perhaps new information is presented.
You don't know everything Alex.
|wilkinsd [ Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:08 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
I for one can understand Mr. Mitchell's cynicism, and also understand those, such as Mr. Stationary Steam, who want to keep this discussion going. However, the subject does seem to come up, under a different thread every few years. As such, contributors move on, people don't participate, and information gets lost.
Why don't we make the GG1 thread a "sticky" at the top of the forum? Combine the other numerous "why doesn't a GG1 run" threads into this one sticky? I'm serious. That way, it's always there, so those who want to participate in it, can, others can ignore it, and it keeps from new threads being made on the same subject.
Those who want to contribute, or add new information can, and also keep the contributions of those who have provided information in the past. It's a handy resource. Plus, donors, including the Amherst Railroad Society donated money to RYPN, so we could access the old form postings. Why not put it to use?
|Mr. Ed [ Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:08 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
I like the sticky idea!
Mr. Ed
|filmteknik [ Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:55 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
Yes, other than there are getting to be a lot of stickies already. Maybe there can be an entirely separate Dead Horse forum. What else goes in there? Here's what I've got:
1) Restore or kitbash-operate a GG-1.
2) Restore and operate a Big Boy.
3) Can we scratchbuild a big time USA steam design (e.g. J3A Hudson)?
4) What's the deal with the two Baldwin Sharks?
Now truly a dead horse: What engine should replace 261?
Anything else?
|davew833 [ Fri Jan 07, 2011 1:37 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
A few months ago I suggested a sticky for new members that crop up and their first post is something like: "I saw XXXX steam enigne in the park today and how muc would it cost to get it runing again thx." (misspellings intentional on my part)
Also there's a certain disassembled PRR steam engine whose number I dare not mention...
|Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:51 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
".....and one time, during Band Camp, I saw a steam locomotive in a flooded quarry..........."
[hides in the bunker]
|Stationary Steam [ Fri Jan 07, 2011 9:11 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
Some of us just need our occasional GG1/NYC Hudson/PRR 1361/Quarry locomotive fix! Nothing wrong with that that I see. Apparently, judging by the fact that we are on the fifth page of this thread, quite a few people want to talk about this issue.
Ever since the Tornado was built and a brand new roundhouse built in Ohio, can anyone now honestly say that restoring/building any piece of equipment is impossible? The impossible does happen.
All threads die, and this one will as well. It may have already died by now if Alex had not brought up the dead horse. Funny how complaining about a thread tends to help keep it alive!
|Wowak [ Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:03 am ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
Sometimes its fun to talk about impossible things, like rewiring a GG1, building a NYC Hudson from scratch, finding a Hiawatha 4-4-2 in a barn, an 0-6-0 in a quarry, 1361 running again, etc...
Most of our beloved beasts are put away for the winter.. I'm ok with a little bit of B.S.ing to keep us all involved.
|EDM [ Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:02 am ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
Its all my fault! Didn't I say in the fifth post on page one of this thread to not go there? Ah, human nature-
Now, about those New Haven electrics that ran on 11k and than 660 into Grand Central; didn't some of them have similar motors to the GG-1s? I have to do some research later today, but I recall reading (Middleton?) that there was a lot of common machinery. Still, the only real place ro run a GG-1 is in it's native habitat.
|Dougvv [ Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:40 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
I asked GM or GE in the 1970's when I was in college about why the car body of the GG1 could not be used as a "starting point" for a new engine design with something like a set of diesel trucks under it.
The response I received is that most railroads then did not want carbodies like the GG1 since workers could go inside and goof off and not be seen.
Odd response that is not the full answer since the newer "Brick on wheels" type of electrics predominate and not the E44 type hood unit.
Oh Well.
Doug vV
|Bob Davis [ Sun Jan 09, 2011 9:49 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
Even though I'm a native Californian who only saw an operable GG-1 once (while visiting New Jersey), I find these discussions interesting, even if they could be construed by some as "comic relief". After a day of repairing an elderly streetcar or locomotive and pondering some of the serious issues facing the preservation community, it's sometimes a break from the "real world" to contemplate some of these "railfantasies". It bears some resemblance to the "Hot Stove League" where baseball fans fantasize during the off-season. The main focus of RYPN should be discussion of how to restore and maintain electric, steam and diesel relics of bygone railroading, but a bit of "sand house chatter" shouldn't hurt.
|robertmacdowell [ Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:07 am ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
I'm hearing a lot of blustering arm-waving from both detractors and proponents, that essentially talk about getting a GG1 to run again (presumably at IRM) by pretty much turning it into either an SD40 or a Birney. No.
For operating a GG1 at a railway museum, I see no reason to change ANYTHING AT ALL, except the transformer proper and possibly the tap changer. I believe those are already removed from most GG1's. And if it were me, I'd put the tap changer back in.
From there, it is a matter of engineering. You have museum 600V coming in off the pan. You need some manner of 25-cycle AC to run some accessories, and DC will do for traction motors and others. You have to sort that out and obtain/build the necessary converters, and have those systems be smart enough to know how not to overwhelm the museum's trolley power. This is becoming exponentially easier. Power electronics improve, and are driven into the hobbyist mainstream by electric-automobile homebrewing. For instance http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/0 ... oller.html
Now, a restoration doesn't even have to wait for the fancy switching electronics. You'll be retaining all the switchgear and low-voltage stuff intact, you can get started on servicing and testing it. Get batteries in the unit (well worn 8V golf cart batteries will substitute for traditional locomotive batteries, since you aren't starting a prime mover). Get a charger. Get some air to it. Now you can go over most of the controls and make sure everything goes clickety-clack correctly, meggers properly, etc.
The single best thing a person could do toward getting a GG1 operating is understanding in depth how the beast is designed to work. So they can proceed on this engineering, and the other real work needed. Such as sending traction motors out for servicing (x12!) and getting the museum's wire and overgrowth into a state for pans.
Unfortunately, I find a dominant number of railfans do not know the technicals. That in and of itself is not a problem; it's that they do not CARE about the technicals, in fact look at the technicals with disgust, something that impedes them essentially "starting from scratch" with the technologies they do know. Fine, buy an old SD40 and make a GG1 body out of fibreglass, but stay away from real GG1's.
|filmteknik [ Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:46 am ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
Okay, I'll bite.
Creating 25Hz from 600V DC via custom built high tech electronics just for the sake of the air compressor and M-G set while stuffing in in trolley apparatus for driving the motors makes little sense. Go ahead and put in a trolley 600V DC compressor and MG set too.
Does anyone happen to know what 25 Hz AC aux equipment exists aboard a GG1 besides the air compressor and a motor-generator to charge the batteries and provide control voltage?
And for that matter what is the battery / control voltage? I suspect it really doesn't much matter as the only things left might be lights and those can be swapped for ones of different voltages if need be.
Meggering the motors is a first step and perhaps the next step would be to attempt to carefully apply power from a source like a welding generator. Final step before getting too carried away with the project would be to couple a trolley car and run wires substituting a G motor for a single trolley car motor. That tests a motor under a load. The end result of all of this work is to single out 4 good motors out of the 12. If 4 good ones cannot be found then the project is cancelled.
If it works out then it's a matter of designing the installation to find places to locate the switch group, grids, controller and disturbing the original equipment as little as possible. And of course the M-G set and compressor for 600 V. Naturally the brake system would need to be gone through as well.
Sending out motors for repair is not gonna happen with the kitbash GG1 project. Maybe a big bucks "real" restoration can afford that. Motor work is very expensive to begin with and if I am not mistaken to get to GG1 motors you have to take the body off the trucks.
Even the kitbash is not a little project but not a high cost one and it doesn't seem that there are any insurmountable issues so long as 4 working motors can be found but having 12 to select from improves the odds. One also presumes the condition of the frames of the unit in question (IRM's I guess) is adequate to run at low speeds without falling apart or becoming dangerous.
|Richard Glueck [ Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:32 pm ]
|Post subject:
|Re: GG-1 & Other Electrics
Unless it can "open up" on main line trackage, it seems a bit pointless to me. Watching a GG1 putter along a few miles of museum track is not how I remember GG1's.
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"Every parent has to manage the competing demands of raising a family and their passions," she told the crowd. "I, too, had to manage that, but I am far more fortunate than most. I had help, and I recognized that I wouldn't be able to do even a small fraction of what I was able to do professionally or as a parent. if I didn't have access to the means to be able to put my children in a secure and safe and protected and nurturing environment." Increasing the child tax credit, she said, could mean the difference between sending a child to an after-school program or paying for quality day care and could even aid some young couples wrestling with whether they can afford to start a family.


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Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia. Thailand ranks second in Southeast Asia in external trade volume, after Singapore. The nation is recognized by the World Bank as "one of the great economic development success stories"
According to the World Bank Thailand became an upper-middle economy in 2011. Over the last four decades, Thailand has made remarkable progress in social and economic development, moving from a low-income country to an upper-income country in less than a generation. As such, Thailand has been one of the widely cited development success stories, with sustained strong growth and impressive poverty reduction, particularly in the 1980s. However, average growth has slowed to 3.5 percent over 2005-2015. The government has embarked on an ambitious reform program to raise Thailand's long-term growth path and achieve high-income status.
Thailand's economy grew at an average annual rate of 7.5 percent in the boom years of 1960 to 1996 and 5 percent following the Asian crisis during 1999-2005, creating millions of jobs that helped pull millions of people out of poverty. Gains along multiple dimensions of welfare have been impressive: more children are now getting more years of education, and virtually everyone is now covered by health insurance while other forms of social security have expanded.
Poverty has declined substantially over the last 30 years from 67% in 1986 to 7.2% in 2015 during periods of high growth and rising agricultural prices. However, poverty and inequality continue to pose significant challenges, with vulnerabilities as a result of faltering economic growth, falling agricultural prices, and ongoing droughts. Poverty in Thailand is primarily a rural phenomenon. As of 2014, over 80 percent of the country's 7.1 million poor live in rural areas. Moreover, an additional 6.7 million were living within 20 percent above the national poverty line and remained vulnerable to falling back into poverty. Although inequality has declined over the past 30 years, the distribution in Thailand remains unequal compared with many countries in East Asia. Significant and growing disparities in household income and consumption can be seen across and within regions of Thailand, with pockets of poverty remaining in the Northeast, North, and Deep South.
Historically, economic growth has been the key driver of poverty reduction in Thailand. However, GDP grew by less than 2.5 percent a year in 2014 and 2016. Looking ahead, the World Bank forecasts growth to pick-up 3.2 percent for 2017.
The rate of economic recovery and reigniting growth, will depend on how fast Thailand can overcome factors constraining growth and promote a more inclusive growth model. There are opportunities in the horizon, including improving business regulatory environment, expanding trade through enhanced integration with the global economy, bolstering growth by implementing transformative public investments to crowd-in private capital, stimulate domestic consumption, and improving quality of public services across the entire country. This will support a resumption of higher, more balanced, growth path that eliminates poverty and boosts shared prosperity for all citizens.
Long-term economic aspirations are laid out in Thailand's recent 20-year strategic plan for attaining developed country status through broad reforms. The reforms address economic stability, human capital, equal economic opportunities, environmental sustainability, competitiveness, and effective government bureaucracies. Progress on reforms has already been made. These include the implementation of multi-year large public infrastructure projects, setting up of a State Enterprise Policy Committee to improve state-owned enterprise governance, transfer of supervisory oversight of specialized financial institutions to the Bank of Thailand, approval of progressive inheritance and property taxes and the launch of the National Savings Fund, a retirement safety net for informal workers.
Going forward, the sustained pace and quality of reforms as well as sound implementation will be crucial for translating the reform effort into the desired economic outcomes. Reversing the relative erosion of competitiveness, improving effectiveness of the public sector, and improving education and skills will be particularly important to take Thailand out from middle to high income status. The World Bank is supportive of the reform agenda.
Today, according to World Bank, Thailand is ranked among Top 50 economies for doing business. Read more


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I stopped by WBRE's "PA Live!" for my weekly segment, "The Ralphie Report." This week, I talked about YouTube sensation Karmin, joked with Jason Derulo, and previewed Justin Bieber's holiday radio special.
Archives For karmin
I stopped by WBRE's "PA Live!" for my weekly segment, "The Ralphie Report." This week, I talked about YouTube sensation Karmin, joked with Jason Derulo, and previewed Justin Bieber's holiday radio special.
To say 2011 was a big year for Karmin would be a big understatement. Since the duo's cover of Chris Brown's "Look at Me Now" went viral to the tune of almost 50 million views – Karmin has appeared on "Ellen," landed a deal with Epic Records, and premiered a music video in Times Square. But Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan are also engaged, so when are they fitting in a wedding?
"So, we originally set the first date for 9/10/11," Noonan revealed on "The Ralphie Radio Show" when he and Heidemann sat down for an interview. "Of course, things were a little cray-cray, so we had to push it back a little bit. But we're hoping to do it maybe sometime in the summer, early summer."
Noonan joked that he needs to lock down a ceremony soon, as his fiancé has a lot more options these days. But all kidding aside, the couple is quite busy promoting their new single and music video for "Crash Your Party." A debut album has already been written and recorded, and is slated for a February release.
"We didn't have a million views (on YouTube) until we did 'Look at Me Now,'" Heidemann noted. "It was 'woop,' million views, and then five million, and ten million, and now it has 50 million."
Now almost any video the couple uploads reaches the six figures in views immediately. After "Look at Me Now," an appearance on "Ellen" fueled their popularity even further. Karmin still uploads covers to its channel, in addition to videos documenting their travels and the journey that they now find themselves on in the music industry.
And to think, heading in to this year, the couple probably would've just been happy with a wedding.
From the YouTube sensation that brought you this amazing cover of "Look at Me Now," comes this new, original (sans the sample of "The Choice is Yours") single.
And if you needed anymore proof at the strength and power of radio, check out the Boston couple's reaction when they heard the track on-air for the first time. Amazing.
This video has gone extremely viral – a kid offering inspiration to others after learning how to ride his bicycle.
Just as much of a feel good story here: a soldier uses the Kansas City Royals to propose to his girlfriend.
And Karmin is back, this time teaming up with ?uestlove from The Roots to cover Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass."
Look at the person, listen to the sounds coming from her… just doesn't match.
Speaking of unique – many are saying her cover is better than the original – a Katy Perry-meets-Nicki Minaj flow.
Finally, a royal take on GaGa's "Bad Romance"


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Sometimes I get a thing in my head and I can't stop thinking about it. Lately it has been Pullips - but dolls have been it for a while. Which reminds me - My Pinky:St has melted a little and leans forward!!! It's Mai too so a rare Pinky at that!
Anyway - I have bought two Rozen Maiden dolls (which is very exciting) with my share of the wedding money. But I'm always checking out the Pullip section on Ebay, especially Aussie sellers. Last night Sage and Nina were up for auction... they are matching boyfriend and girlfriend in a school uniform.
But no one was bidding on Sage - so I snapped him up for $70 Aus. I was very happy with that - but then I started thinking about for Sage without his girlfriend and how much I would kick myself if I didn't put in a bit for Nina. So I bid $80.50 and walked away. Turns out that I won Nina as well... Man am I broke. But from Pullipstyle.com Sage costs $88 US and Nina costs... Hmm she's out of stock. So I feel very lucky.
I put a heap of shoes of Ebay yesterday and I have a few watchers.


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An Indiana jury has awarded a record verdict in the wrongful death case of a northwest Indiana patient.
Joe Lowery died Dec.9, 2011 at the age of 49 eight days after he was admitted to the hospital for medical treatment.
Lowery weighed 378 pounds and was disabled at the time of his death, records show.
His attorney, Kenneth J. Allen, argued Vibra Hospital of Northwest Indiana and nurse Citiria Porter failed to properly document and monitor Lowery's condition.
According to the lawsuit filed in 2013, the hospital failed to meet a reasonable standard of care and nurses failed to comply with doctors' orders.
On June 17, the jury awarded Lowery's family $9.5 million in the wrongful death lawsuit, which is a record in Indiana, according to Allen's law firm.
"Joe and Karen had only been married for six years, but he was an ideal husband and surrogate father to her three children from a previous marriage," said Allen. "Joe was an active, gentle man who'd give you the shirt off his back. His doctor called him delightful and remarkable. And Joe and Karen were genuinely in love, which the jury recognized."
Vibra Hospital argued that obesity and smoking would have reduced Joe's life expectancy to only 11 more years, relying on the testimony of Anthony Milano, MD, a former insurance company medical director.
But according to 2011 government life tables, the life expectancy of men his age was 30.6 years, according to Kenneth J. Allen's law firm.
Porter still has an active nursing license in Indiana, records show.
Call 6 Investigates is working to reach Vibra Healthcare for a response to the verdict.
"I'm so thankful for the jury's hard work and understanding," Karen Lowery said. "It has been so hard to raise my kids without Joe. They loved him as much as I did, and he grew closer to them than their biological father. He was my soulmate and their dad."


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Yesterday, the Franciscan University of Steubenville Facebook page shared an article from the aptly named Crisis magazine, penned by FUS Professor Stephen Kranson, wherein he provided a shocking apologia for rape culture and blamed sexual harassment on immodesty and the sexual revolution. I won't directly engage the scandalous article here, but Rebecca Bratten Weiss provides an excellent rebuttal.
The sharing of this article received such a severe backlash that FUS took it down and posted an apology claiming they didn't really read it. In the comment section under their apology, former students expressed their dismay and one student described her alleged sexual harassment and intimidation by another Franciscan University professor. Having learned nothing about how important it is to listen to women speaking about sexual harassment, despite what had just transpired moments ago, the facebook page deleted these comments. Fortunately, screenshots were taken and shared publicly by an alumna named Annie Marie Snoddy, who stated that "this is a public post so feel free to share." Here they are:
I am appalled. Lord knows I've had my share of disagreements with Franciscan University on a myriad of topics. It's not a school I would have contemplated sending my child to in the first place. But I was never sexually harassed there even once. I would have liked to believe they were far better than this.
Especially when one considers that FUS fired my friend Rebecca Bratten Weiss just months ago, for teaching college-level literature in college and for daring to ask the socioeconomic reasons why women might seek abortion, it seems beyond belief that they would tolerate a professor writing that Crisis article in the first place. And I hope they would take allegations of sexual misconduct extremely seriously, not delete them as if they were terrified to consider that such an incedent could happen.If the allegations of sexual harassment described by the former student are true, I don't think they're in any way unique to Franciscan University. I believe that most college campuses, no matter what their professed political or moral views, are places where sexual harassment occasionally happens. I went to Otterbein University, the ideological polar opposite of Franciscan, for undergraduate, and experienced a sexual harassment incident there. It was very quickly and professionally addressed by the authorities and I was not bothered again, so I'm not ragging on my alma mater. No one in that school's administration did anything unethical there that I'm aware of.
And that illustrates my point: sexual harassment, assault and abuse ought never to happen. It is a tragedy that they happen. But the first step to preventing such things is to be completely frank that they do happen, with alarming frequency, all over this world, and that they are intolerable. They can happen to you whether you're a radical feminist or someone who is radically anti-feminist. They happen to chaste girls in long skirts as well as to sexual libertines. Sometimes the perpetrators are foolish, horny students and sometimes they're professors. Sometimes they're liberal and sometimes conservative. Sometimes, tragically, they're Catholic. Being a Catholic school with a conservative reputation in no way makes an institution immune to sexual abuse. However, denying that sexual abuse is a problem and silencing those who come forward to report it is an excellent way to ensure that your institution becomes a hotbed of abuse, whatever you claim to profess.
I am at a loss to express how alarming it is that a college professor of any stripe wrote that Crisis rant in the first place. College professors are in a position of authority. They ought to know far better. I am equally shocked that the Franciscan University Facebook page decided to promote it. And I don't think that the post having been "not fully vetted" makes it any less appalling.
The first step toward preventing sexual abuse is to be honest about it, and as far as I can tell, yesterday Franciscan University failed at that twice over.
(First image via Pixabay)


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Democratic Republic of Congo's attacker Junior Kabananga struck early in the second half to earn a 1-0 win over Morocco in their opening African Nations Cup match on Monday.
The goal was quite plainly unattractive, as goalkeeper Munir Mohand allowed a tame cross to come back off his post to the waiting forward.
The celebration was choreographed with some silky dance move
Congo DR (4-3-3): Matampi; Mpeko, Zakuani, Tisserand, N'Sakala (Lomalisa 64 mins); Mbemba, Bokadi, Mulumba; Mubele, Bakambu (Mbokani 76), Kabananga (Maghoma 71)
Subs: Kudimbana, Bokila, Bollingi, Botaka, Ikoko, Kebano, M'Poku, Mulumbu, Kiassumbua.
Sent off: Lomalisa Mutambala
Goal: Kabananga 55
Morocco (5-3-2): Mohand; Dirar, Benatia, Da Costa, Saiss (Fajr 73), Mendyl; El Ahmadi, Boussoufa, El Kaddouri (En-Nesyri 60); Carcela-Gonzalez (El Arabi 78), Bouhaddouz
Subs: Bounou, Ait Bennasser, Alioui, Attouchi, Boutaib, Chafik, Obbadi, Rherras, Yassine El Kharroubi, Yassine El Kharroubi
Booked: Da Costa
DR Congo played the last nine minutes of the Group C match with 10 men after substitute Joyce Lomalisa was sent off for a second yellow card after only 16 minutes on the pitch.
Morocco were denied an equaliser in the closing minutes when DR Congo goalkeeper Ley Matampi made a brilliant stop at point-blank range to block Youssef El Arabi's header.
But Congo's heroic rear-guard held strong, providing the basis for their victory


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Well, I couldn't resist the 80's speak in tonight's title. Sometimes I just gotta be me! Like totally!
I saw the start of a bracelet using these great Swarovski modular crystals earlier today in an ad so I thought I'd find out where to get them.
Surprisingly not all bead shops carry them. I found them in fabulous fuschia over at Artbeads.com.
It's easy to see how stringing them up would make a special piece of jewelry with very little embellishment. However, I was wondering if there were other interesting ways to use them.
I don't recall ever having these modular crystals personally. Any ideas out there? These are 7mm x 15mm!
Appreciating the individual beauty of beads and the unique works of art they are used to create!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Totally Modular!
2 comments:
- Almost Precious said...
I've never used these cute little beads but I have seen them clustered together to form a chunky type necklace or bracelet. I also can imagine them strung alternately with either bicone beads or smooth or faceted round beads. They seem to have a cup or indentation that begs for a partnering bead.
- July 15, 2012 at 9:55 AM
- Lisa Crone said...
I agree, it would be nice to see them interspersed for variety. Maybe in between some pearly right angle weave.
- July 15, 2012 at 7:37 PM
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Miranda Lambert admits it's been a while.
She says no one has heard music from her in a while — her last single "Smokin' and Drinkin'" was released more than a year ago — and that her new song "Vice" was the perfect way to get back out there.
Partly because it's just so her, and partly because it's just so transparent. Lambert doesn't shy away from the highs and lows she's experienced over the past year after she and Blake Shelton divorced.
"I think when you go through something in your life that's hard, you learn what you run to and what you run from," she said in a recent radio interview. "And sometimes that comes full circle."
So this song "Vice," which she co-wrote with Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, is that full-circle song for her. Lyrics like "Another vice, another town, where my past can't run me down/Another life, another call, another bed I shouldn't have crawled out of" show the best side of Lambert: her honesty.
"I just hope that everybody that hears it can kinda feel like they're not on an island, that we all have things in our life that aren't necessary pleasant to talk about," she said. "But this song is just honest as you can get about emotions and letting raw emotions live where they live until you move on to a happier place."
"It's kinda the cycle of life. We can't all be sunshine and roses every day, and sometimes when we're not, we find things that make us feel better at the moment. And that's what a vice is."


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May 22nd at 8:29am
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Redondo Beach, California, is one of the three popular Beach Cities in the Los Angeles combined statistical area, which is the world's third largest metropolitan area after Greater Tokyo and New York.
Situated in the South Bay region, this is a prized real estate area in which to own a home. The median sales price for homes for sale from September 15 to December 15, 2015, was $869,500 based on 198 home sales, an increase of 10.1 percent, or $79,500, compared to the same period a year ago. The average listing price was $1,137,685 for the week ending December 2, 2015.
Although most exclusive beachfront luxury property and homes for sale with amazing architecture and amenities are located in neighborhoods only steps away from the beach and with gorgeous ocean views, luxury homes can also be found throughout the city, which is unique.
The city is within 15 minutes of the airport, which is important to business commuters.
There is a laid-back welcoming neighborly atmosphere.
For those with families, it is important to know that the Redondo Beach Unified School District has eight elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, one continuation school, and one adult school.
Stretching out onto the Pacific Ocean, this unusually shaped pier has had many alterations and rebuilding, and its modern reinforced concrete version was completed in 1995 has brought back the appeal to visitors as well as businesses.
This soft white sand well-maintained beach with the Pacific waves rolling in stretches from the Pier to Riviera. It is popular with swimmers, surfers, paddle boarders, beachgoers, and those who enjoy water sports and whale and dolphin watching. Additionally, there is a wonderful bike path along the beach and an upper street-level walkway for those who prefer to walk with or without babies or dogs, jog, take pictures, or watch the gorgeous sunsets.
There is no admission charge, but you are welcome to leave a small donation to help with operating expenses. Although small, this is a quaint lab filled with educational aquarium displays while knowledgeable and informative guides give behind-the-scenes tours and facts about the various sea life. Your family will adore the up-close encounters where they can touch and pet sea creatures such as a horned shark, sea stars, an anemone, and sea slugs. Be sure to see the halibut tank with their cute eyes poking up out of the sand.


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BBC World War One Centenary 2014 – what to watch in the year ahead
From documentaries and concerts to commemorative events – some highlights of the BBC's centenary coverage
The Ark BBC1
Hermione Norris, Suranne Jones and Oona Chaplin are frontline nurses at a field hospital dealing with casualties. Coming in spring.
The Passing Bells BBC1
Five episodes, chronologically constructed, charting the experiences of two young enlistees who believe the conflict will be over in a few months.
37 Days BBC2
A three-part account of the events that led up to the start of the war. Starring Ian McDiarmid and Tim Pigott-Smith.
Our World War BBC3
In the style of the award-winning documentary series Our War, this drama re-creates real battlefield stories using the helmet-mounted and night-vision cameras deployed in today's conflicts.
Home Front Radio 4
The 100-hour epic, running over four years, begins in August. Fictional stories of life at home set against a factual backdrop.
Tommies Radio 4
Six dramas a year for four years, each covering the events of a specific day exactly 100 years earlier.
Tommy and Jerry's Camera BBC4
If Vietnam was the first televised war, the 1914—18 conflict was the first to be chronicled by photographers, many of them ordinary soldiers in uniform. Two men who went into battle with both rifles and cameras were Harry Colver, a second lieutenant with the yorks and lancaster regiment, and german boy-soldier Walter Kleinfeldt. The programmes, on air in a few weeks, gives a glimpse of daily life on both sides of the barbed wire through its subjects' camera lenses.
Colver died in December 1915 after a German gas attack, but Kleinfeldt survived the war and started his own photographic business. The photos he had taken on the Western Front were discovered only recently, stored in an old box, by his son. "They tell a remarkable story," says film-maker Steve Humphries. "The early ones captured a real sense of innocent idealism, but by 1916 and the Battle of the Somme they started to reflect the horror that was unfolding."
Royal Cousins of War BBC2
How European royal relatives ended up on opposing sides and how this led to the collapse of many royal houses.
Teenage Tommies BBC2
Fergal Keane reveals the stories of Britain's boy soldiers, 250,000 of whom enlisted to fight on foreign fields.
The Pity of War/The Necessary War BBC2
Historians Niall Ferguson and Max Hastings adopt different positions on who was to blame for the outbreak of war and whether Britain was right to enter.
The World's War BBC2
Both Britain and Germany drew on their empires for manpower — the germans even enrolling Muslims from North Africa and the Middle East in a Jihad against the Allies.
1914 — Day By Day Radio 4
Starting in June, historian Margaret MacMillan presents a daily programme that plots the road to the outbreak of war in Europe and describes the other key events, such as the threat of civil war in Ireland, that were happening at the time.
Artists of War BBC4
Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the work of three British artists and their role in chronicling the great War.
Oh! What a Lovely War Radio 2
A restaging of the famous anti-war musical first performed on the london stage 50 years ago. On air in spring.
The Ballads of the Great War Radio 2
Life and death on the battlefield told through songs both old and new in this series, which will be broadcast throughout the season.
Music in the Great War Radio 3
For two weeks in June, the channel's daytime and evening schedules will reflect the music of the great War, from orchestral and chamber music through to trench songs and the rise of jazz.
Live in Concert Radio 3
On 28 June, the anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Vienna Philharmonic performs live from Sarajevo, the city where he was murdered.
The 100th anniversary of the outbreak of war on 4 August will be marked by three commemorative events in the UK and in Belgium.
Glasgow Cathedral
A service of remembrance will be held in the morning, attended by Commonwealth leaders.
St Symphorien Military Cemetery in Mons
Attention switches to Belgium, where the first and last British soldiers to die in battle are buried. Many world leaders and heads of state are expected to join descendants of the dead, including german soldiers, at the ceremony.
Westminster Abbey
In the evening, hundreds of candles will be lit in a special vigil at the Abbey. One by one they will then be extinguished until, at 11pm, when war was officially declared, the final one is put out — evoking the statement of Edward Grey, the British Home Secretary in 1914, who declared on the announcement of war, "The lamps are going out all over europe."
Britain's Great War is on tonight at 9:00pm on BBC1.


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How Do YOU Save on Travel Expenses!?
Hip2Save may earn a small commission via affiliate links in this post. Read our full disclosure policy here.
If you're planning an upcoming trip for Spring Break or starting to plan your Summer vacation, you may be looking to save on travel expenses and to find ways to make traveling go more smoothly.
Check out these travel tips from Susie and Roxy…
One tip is to download the Marriott app for great check-in and check-out experiences. The app prompts you to check in BEFORE you reach the hotel, as much as 24 hours before, and it asks your expected arrival time. I always get a notification that our room is ready by the time I requested, regardless of how much before actual published check-in time it is. Also, upon arrival, skip the entire check-in procedure at the front desk. Just pick up your room keys at the designated area. You also check out in the app as well. Room type request like top floor, away from the elevator, etc. can be entered into your account and they honor them when assigning your room.
I don't know how many of you use Priceline when you look for a hotel, but if you're not familiar with it, it's worth checking out. Whenever we travel, we bid on hotels and we get better rates than we would any other way. The downside is you don't know what hotel you get until your bid is approved and you pay, but you can pick the area and number of stars and we've always been satisfied. We were in Destin this summer and every hotel was asking for $100 a night but we got a room at Marriott for $80 and one year we stayed at a super fancy 4 star hotel for $50 a night.
With that being said, how do YOU save on vacations, hotels, car rentals and other travel-related expenses? Share your tips below!


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"You either love this program or you hate it," Charlie Stancil says of his creation, a shock regimen for disruptive youth that begins with military-style drills at dawn.
George W. Bush loved it – so much so that when he ran for president in 2000, one of his campaign commercials featured him walking with kids from that program, called STAR. If elected, the commercial said, Bush would use STAR as a national model.
Nearly four years later, STAR has grown to 32 for-profit programs in four states, serving 7,225 youths this past school year. But its growth has little, if anything, to do with the White House, and everything to do with youth workers struggling for ways to set troublesome kids straight while keeping them in school and out of court.
While this alternative to suspension or expulsion for 9- to 15-year-olds claims impressive results and wins praise from educators and juvenile justice officials in several states, some parents and child advocates charge that it degrades and frightens youth and exposes them to physical and verbal abuse.
Swirling around the debate over STAR are hard questions about how to handle bullies and chronically misbehaving youth: Can even the worst offenders be kept in classroom settings, rather than being dumped into secure juvenile facilities? Can a nonresidential "shock" program improve attendance, grades and behavior over the long term for a significant number of youth? Are the wrong kids being swept up as well, in a classic example of widening the net?
STAR tries to answer these questions with a regime that includes daily physical drills at sunrise, mandatory parental involvement, daily tutoring, weekly therapy for youth and parents, and collaboration with schools, juvenile and family courts, and youth-serving agencies such as the YMCA.
STAR claims that hundreds of its youngsters have improved their grades and been diverted from the juvenile justice system. "I don't like the idea of guys yelling at kids, but the positive results of the program are indisputable," says Pete Colbenson, director of Georgia's Children and Youth Coordinating Council.
But foes say STAR's approach is all wrong: that youth will reflect in their behavior the "controlling, unthinking, unfeeling" nature of their military model (in the words of criminal justice professor Lucien Lombardo), that children with learning disabilities could be irreparably harmed, and that STAR doesn't assess whether the youth need this type of program. Several parents have complained that some youth have been verbally or physically abused.
"STAR has apparently not diverted any youngsters from the system," says Orlando Martinez, former commissioner of Georgia's Department of Juvenile Justice. "I haven't seen any decline in the numbers of people coming into the system because of STAR."
No Boots
"We are not a boot camp," declares Stancil, who created STAR after initially setting out to create – a boot camp.
It was 1993, when youth boot camps were a fad. School officials in Montgomery County, Texas, were pressing for the creation of a boot camp for suspended and expelled kids, and the county's chief juvenile probation officer, Mel Brown, tapped Stancil to lead the effort. Stancil, who had retired as a senior chief petty officer after 22 years in the Navy, had responded to a job announcement for a "boot camp coordinator" at a local military recruiting office.
"I was sent around the state to observe the boot camps, and what I saw scared me," Stancil recalls. "Little or no education and a lot of abuse."
Brown says he worked with school officials to create a compromise, "taking the military approach and putting it at the front end of an educational program." The objectives were to keep kids in school while reducing their disruptive behavior and improving their grades.
Stancil was hired to implement Specialized Treatment and Rehabilitation (STAR) in a middle school in Conroe. Probation officials say the program soared. But Stancil left in frustration when school and juvenile justice officials decided to move the program to an alternative education building – away from the school that the STAR kids came from. Stancil's reaction reflects his belief in the benefit of bringing the program to the kids, rather than isolating them in an alternative setting.
"We lost the [deterrent] ripple effect of the STAR student being in the same classroom with the others," he says. "And we lost the presence of a STAR instructor who would have been nearby to quell a classroom disturbance if it had broken out."
Stancil launched a for-profit version of STAR in Georgia in 1996, changing what the acronym stands for to Student Transition and Recovery. He says the original name "sounded too 'mediciney.' We don't rehabilitate anybody."
The original nonprofit still operates in many Texas counties, either as STAR (run by school board and juvenile justice collaboratives) or the Juvenile Justice Alternative Program (under the Texas Youth Commission).
Odd Duck
Stencil's version of STAR is an amalgam of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) used in many high schools and colleges, and an intensive before-and-after-school physical fitness and tutoring program.
It operates mostly in rural counties in Georgia, Alabama, New York and Pennsylvania on a $4 million annual budget. Its fees range from $100,000 per year in some Georgia counties to $225,000 in Genesee County, near Rochester, N.Y. Most of the programs are funded by local, state and federal funds (the latter mostly through Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention state formula grants). The programs are overseen by local school boards and juvenile courts, sometimes assisted by county social services departments.
STAR offers three tracks. Youth are referred to its one- and 30-day sessions by their schools in lieu of suspension, and to its six-month track by juvenile court or social services agencies, usually in lieu of juvenile detention.
The one-day session is for youth who've committed minor infractions such as repeated talking in class and "sassing" the teacher. It accounts for 63 percent of program participants.
The 30-day track is for repeat offenders who've been through the one-day session, accounting for 28 percent of participants. The other 9 percent go to the six-month program, which is for youth who have been charged with criminal offenses, such as assault and car theft.
STAR instructors greet the youth promptly at 5:30 each school morning for calisthenics and running exercises, either in a building on the school grounds or at a central site where several schools bus their students.
The instructors wear military-type uniforms and yell commands during the exercises and formation, while the youths yell back, "Yes, sir!" and "No sir!" or other answers to questions. For the one-day participants, a military-style haircut is optional.
Sounds like a boot camp? "I abhor them," Stancil says. "We do not call our personnel 'drill sergeants,' we call them 'instructors.' "
The youth workers are forbidden to touch the youths, Stancil says. The workers go through restraint training but are not equipped with handcuffs, straps, hooks, blackjacks, billy clubs or weapons. "It's dumb to teach that violence is not the answer and have a gun hanging at your side," Stancil says.
The "sergeant/instructors" make $22,500 a year, Stancil says, while "captains" or "majors" who coordinate several programs start out at $28,000 to $31,000.
After the morning drills, the STAR students, wearing a star stitched onto their shirts, attend regular classes. The drill cacophony goes at ease. The instructors remain on site, typically monitoring the halls and rendering assistance if needed – such as if a disturbance develops among students.
When regular classes end for the day, the youths attend study halls supervised by teachers, with STAR instructors helping out if a youth asks. "Homework is done if we have to stay with them until 10 p.m. or beyond," Stancil says.
Community service is often part of the regimen. For instance, some STAR youth may clean YMCA facilities in exchange for getting use of the facilities.
Parental participation is required. Without it, youths can be removed from the program, and in some cases their parents are threatened with jail.
Weekly parenting classes and counseling sessions with parents and students are held at the school, with mental health and counseling staff assigned by the school district.
Mixed Reviews
Orlando Martinez, who resigned in August as commissioner of Georgia's Department of Juvenile Justice, is not a fan of STAR.
"I do not support boot camps or any programs such as STAR that use shock tactics," Martinez says. "I would question the results of any of these programs. I've never seen any wholesale evaluation of these programs."
Yet, an evaluation of STAR's performance in 10 Georgia communities showed marked declines in absenteeism and disciplinary referrals and an increase in grades.
"STAR is an effective early intervention program," said the study, "The Student Transition and Recovery (STAR) Program: An Evaluation Report," which reviewed data on the 1998-1999 statewide program. Fifty-two percent of the 562 youths who participated in the six-month and 30-day programs during that time took part in a survey. Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed had improved their grades, 67 percent got along better with their parents and 61 percent attended school more often.
Of course, it's unclear how the results would have changed if the other 48 percent of STAR participants were in the survey.
"If we'd had enough money to do a more in-depth longitudinal survey, we would have done it," says Colbenson, director of the Children and Youth Coordinating Council, who commissioned the study. "These results had to serve as an indicator as to whether the program had merit."
Colbenson was responsible for STAR's first foray out of Texas. In 1996, as the juvenile justice specialist in charge of the state agency that administers Georgia's formula grants from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Colbenson routed $100,000 of that money to STAR for a pilot in Colquitt County. The results were good enough for the state to fund "four or five more" in 1999 at $50,000 apiece, Colbenson says.
He praises STAR as an "alternative to alternative schools. … Since we were skeptical of the approach, we monitored these programs more closely than any other program type we ever funded." He says the instructors were "particularly good at informal follow-up" by "staying in touch with the kids, asking about their grades and greeting them warmly upon meeting them."
Rick Beal, a high school principal for 24 years in Michigan and Georgia, says that when STAR was instituted at his Georgia school, "79 percent of those in the one-day program never showed up again as discipline problems." Beal, now an educational consultant for Georgia's Central Savannah River Area, says STAR was especially effective in dealing with bullies, which he called the "public school's No. 1" problem.
Nationally, Stancil cites these recidivism rates for STAR participants: 14 percent in the one-day phase, 18 percent in the 30-day phase and 36 percent in the six-month phase.
Even though Stancil left Texas in a dispute over how STAR was being carried out there, Bush found the Texas version effective when he was governor. Chad Trulson, who worked on the original STAR effort and is now a professor of criminal justice at the University of North Texas, recalls one of Bush's presidential campaign ads:
"There he was, Governor Bush, featured in a TV commercial marching with STAR students behind him and at his side, while the announcer said the program will serve as a national model. Boot camps were in favor here then. But STAR isn't a boot camp."
A White House spokesman could not say whether the Bush administration has tried to use any elements of STAR as a national model.
There have been a few allegations of abuse by STAR staff:
• The Augusta Chronicle reported in April 2001 that an "injured boy, 11, was sprayed with water throughout the day while crawling through wet sand, according to the youth's grandmother, while a drill sergeant asked, 'Who's going to help you now?' "
The paper said the STAR program at a middle school in Kingsland, Ga., (Camden County) was shut down because of the incident. It quoted Stancil as saying, "With the exception of Camden County, we never had an accusation of injury to a student.
What happened was an isolated incident that should have never happened."
Stancil now says that by "mutual agreement" the contract was not renewed.
Camden County Assistant School Superintendent Edwin Davis says he doesn't "precisely recall the incident," but "vaguely" remembers that "an instructor might have been fired." STAR "had merit," Davis says. "The only reason it was discontinued was because we no longer had funds to support it."
Stancil says that if an instructor has been found even to curse at a youth, he or she must apologize to the youth in front of the others. "The instructor will get one verbal warning, one written warning, and if there is a third time, they will be fired," he says. He says this procedure led to the firing of an instructor in 1999.
• The Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO), a watchdog group based in Tucker that watches for practices that might violate the rights of children with disabilities, says through a spokesman that it is "looking into around five complaints from around the state" regarding STAR.
"The [federal] Individuals with Disabilities Education Act recommends research-based positive behavioral intervention systems for students with disabilities," the spokesman says. "STAR is the opposite of what research recommends." Some STAR programs include youth with attention deficit disorder.
• Lucien Lombardo, a professor of criminal justice at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., urged the Berrien County, Ga., School Board in February "to rethink having the STAR program in your schools."
"Experiences that are felt as degrading stay with and shape the adults these children become in incredibly negative ways," Lombardo says in an interview. "These students need to feel their human dignity is supported, not degraded."
Berrien County's program ended in May because of overall funding reductions, says Gary Chapman, executive director of Communities in Schools of Berrien, which funded STAR at $100,000 a year for three years. One parent there complained about her son being abused by STAR staff, but the complaint apparently has been dropped.
Stancil says STAR's critics are "misinformed. When the schools and the courts come to us, that means they have already tried" other approaches. "This is a volunteer program."
Stancil, revealing some military steel, says, "I'm getting frustrated with these people who think that their way is the only way. Give them my number and tell them to call me anytime, visit any program and ask any questions."
Charlie Stancil, President
STAR Programs
P.O. Box 2694
1118 Main St.
Bandera, TX 78003
(877) 890-2022
Pete Colbenson, Director
Children and Youth Coordinating Council
10 Park Place South
Suite 410
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 508-6577
Eileen Kirkpatrick, Director
Genesee County
Department of Social Services
5130 E. Main St.
Batavia, NY 14020
(585) 344-2580
Chad Trulson
Professor of Criminal Justice
University of North Texas
Box 305130
Denton, TX 76203
(940) 565-2758
The Georgia Advocacy Office
100 Crescent Centre Parkway
Suite 520
Tucker, GA 30084
(404) 885-1234
Ron Leach, Director
Montgomery County Juvenile
Probation Department
200 Academy Drive
Conroe, TX 77301
(936) 760-5805
Making Parents Participate is Crucial
Parental participation is key to the success of STAR, says Eileen Kirkpatrick, director of the Genesee County, N.Y., Department of Social Services, which has been working with STAR for three years.
"The mandatory parenting classes for the 30-day kids and the six-month kids forces the family to look at how they relate, rather than just saying, 'This kid is a problem,' " she says.
Star founder Charlie Stancil says the average parent profile reads: single female on welfare living in small, rural area. Some are alcohol and drug abusers, he says, but most are not addicted.
"The biggest number of them simply have no parenting skills, so the parenting classes are crucial," he says. "And far too many of them were themselves goofballs in school who passed it on to their kids."
Kirkpatrick adds that the parents learn age-appropriate discipline techniques, along with listening, negotiating and intervention skills. The classes are held at least one hour a week, she says.
Parents or legal guardians who don't participate could face sanctions. In the 30-day session, Kirkpatrick says, the children of parents who don't participate are supposed to be released from STAR and face whatever disciplinary action the school may otherwise have administered.
For the six-month sessions, family court judges issue orders directing the parents to attend. If they don't, Kirkpatrick says, "the parent may do some jail time. One came close, but straightened out when she found out we were serious." In Georgia, judges also issue orders requiring parental participation.
Program administrators say the threat of punishment seems to work. "To my knowledge only one parent was put in jail" during the 10 years of the program, Stancil says.
As for kicking kids out for parental nonparticipation, he says, "We have kept kids even though the parent would not support us initially. Court pressure eventually gets them back into line. I would not punish the student for the action of the parent."


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Quaker Heart Health Sweepstakes (QuakerHeartHealth.com)
Now through March 10, purchase any Quaker Oats participating products and look for the UPC code and a chance to win the Quaker Heart Health Sweepstakes. Enter your code online at QuakerHeartHealth.com to find out if you are the winner of a daily $1,000 cash prize. Plus, you could win free Quaker products.
Over $120,000 in prizes are available to be won. Are you the next daily winner?
Quaker Oats Sweepstakes Links
Sweepstakes Entry Form
Official Rules
Quaker Heart Health Sweepstakes Rules
- Who Can Enter? The Quaker Heart Health Sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older as of January 15, 2018.
- When To Enter? Sweepstakes starts at 12:00 p.m. (noon) CT on January 15, 2018 and ends at 11:59 p.m. CT on March 10, 2018.
- What Is The Quaker Heart Health Sweepstakes Prize? The Grand Prize consists of $1,000, awarded in the form of a check, payable to winner.
- Who Are The Quaker Oats Sweepstakes Winners? For a list of the winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Quaker Oats "Feed Your Heart" Instant-Win Game Winners' List Request, 10 South 5th Street-7th Floor, Dept. 181-709, Minneapolis, MN 55402. Requests must be received by April 10, 2018.
Tags: Quaker Oats Sweepstakes 2018, QuakerHeartHealth.comComments (3 Messages)
lots Quaker oats hope i win
love it
use for many thinks mostly cookies
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MISSIONOur mission is simple…..to teach sportsmanship, character,soccer skill and a passion for playing the game to our local youth.
Creation…Port City Soccer was created to be the leader for youth recreational soccer in Southeastern North Carolina. Port City Soccer is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Goals and Ambition…Goal #1 is for our players and families to have an enjoyable experience that will serve them for a lifetime. We can never lose sight of our responsibility to provide an environment where our players work towards their dreams of playing on college teams, professional teams, and hopefully, our United States National teams!
Coaching…The coaching philosophy at Port City is to promote quality play in a fun environment. Emphasis is stressed on fundamental development while making an effort to reduce the emphasis on winning.
Vision…We have a vision for every child in the club. Curriculums teaching core principles are in place for ALL players ages 3 and older. Every player and team will compete at their highest appropriate level.
Club Leadership…Our board of directors and administration are made up of consciencious individuals qualified to make important soccer decisions concerning the development of our youth and organization.
Strength…Port City Soccer's strength lies in its wonderful members. Collectively, our network of smiling, caring people lay the foundation for the loving community that is Port City Soccer.
P.O. Box 12824Wilmington, North Carolina 28405


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While hunting the Internet for a new space to share with you guys today, I re-found Lucas Allen. This talented photographer has worked with the likes of Real Simple, Crate & Barrel, House Beautiful and more. In his portfolio, you can see why these big names would look to him to create the images that live in their glossy pages. His work is always bright, clean, and open - perfectly showcasing the design elements.
It's not just the space, it's the composition and angle of the photograph that really make you love some of these homes, but you can see that for yourself in the collection below.


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Will Ferrell is a ferocious marshmallow. In his dumb but endearing sports comedies, the spirit may be willing, but the flesh is flabby. As he ricochets from triumph to humiliation and back, he suggests an armchair George Plimpton whose characters, driven by an outlandish grandiosity, are deeply reassuring. For the sake of his career, Mr. Ferrell should never join a gym; buffed up, he would cease being one of us.
In "Blades of Glory" his character — Chazz Michael Michaels, a preening rock 'n' roll-style figure skater, hard drinker and self-proclaimed sex addict — is quintessential Ferrell: a macho caricature with a gooey sweet filling that leaks through the cracks of his heavy-metal armor. As he lurches and lunges through a routine to the roar of the Billy Squier anthem "The Stroke," Chazz is almost fearsome. But by the end of this fast, light, frequently funny comedy, your instinct is to pet his mullet and go "Awwww."
Mr. Ferrell and Jon Heder (of "Napoleon Dynamite") play rival skaters who were banned from the ice following a public brawl; Mr. Heder's character, Jimmy MacElroy, is the whiny, arrogant adopted child of a billionaire (William Fichtner) who abandons him on a roadside after his ouster from the sport. After spending three years in exile, Chazz and Jimmy re-enter figure skating the only way the rules allow: as a team.
As these mismatched egomaniacs develop a fraternal bond, their chemistry jells, and Mr. Ferrell and Mr. Heder stake an early claim to being the comedy couple of the year. Jimmy, with his fleecy platinum hair and downy cheeks, is a brat itching for a comeuppance, and Mr. Heder's Bugs Bunny teeth and myopic gaze complete the picture of the sports prodigy as idiotic, self-centered robot. The character seems only a hair's-breadth away from Napoleon Dynamite.
It comes as a huge relief to find that as "Blades of Glory" speeds along, it avoids going to the obvious, ugly place for cheap laughs. The notion of a male figure-skating team in which one member is a chest-beating, fire-breathing Lothario and the other a persnickety, virginal girly-man cries out for the kind of easy, gay-baiting jokes that mars comedies like "Wild Hogs."
It's not that "Blades of Glory" is entirely unaware of its largely untapped subtext. In Sarah Kawahara's amusing ice skating choreography, sliding scissor kicks land faces in crotches, and groins grind into groins. But the humor lies more in the ooh-that-must-hurt category than in any suggestion that such collisions might be sexy.
The movie's satirical take on competitive figure skating, from its music for gliding pas des deux (Andrea Bocelli) to the goofy absurdity of children's ice shows in which Chazz, exiled from competition, is forced to work, to its tacky space-age costumes, is affectionately knowing.
When Chazz and Jimmy make their comeback, they are pitted against a ruthless European brother-sister team with an incestuous bond, the Van Waldenbergs (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler), who blackmail their meek sister (Jenna Fischer) into using her charms to break up the American partners. This is one of several subplots shoehorned into the movie for strictly mechanical reasons.
The Van Waldenbergs have a potentially great comic moment near the end of the movie that is all but thrown away. In their breathtakingly tasteless routine at the movie's version of the Winter Olympics, they impersonate John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe as lovers on ice. Alas, all the movie gives us is about 30 seconds of what might have been a classic, "Borat"-worthy sketch.
More successful are a drawn-out stumbling chase on skates through the streets of Montreal, and Chazz and Jimmy's decision to execute an extremely dangerous (and funny) maneuver developed in North Korea.
Despite its missed opportunities, "Blades of Glory" introduces some fresh talent into the Hollywood comedy pool. Its directors, Will Speck and Josh Gordon, come from advertising, having created those ubiquitous television commercials for Geico insurance. However tired of the Geico caveman you may be, you must admit that the campaign, when new, had a rare spark of wit. "Blades of Glory" has enough vestiges of that kind of creative cheek to keep you contentedly in your seat.
"Blades of Glory" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has off-color sexual humor and some strong language.


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Area\Santa_Monica\Ocean_House\Hauntedmusic.wav Goldfraps - Pilots
Area\Santa_Monica\Warehouse\Warehouse_Boss_Fight_Music.wav Tricky - Bad Dream
Quote from: Barabbah on August 08, 2018, 06:28:37 PMArea\Santa_Monica\Ocean_House\Hauntedmusic.wav Goldfraps - PilotsI think this was added in the Plus patch.
QuoteArea\Santa_Monica\Warehouse\Warehouse_Boss_Fight_Music.wav Tricky - Bad DreamHm. I don't recall hearing this in-game at all.
Vandal has this playing in his room :)!


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The DALAUDIO "Retro" chassis is a near exact copy of the Dynaco 120, including original mounting holes on the base. The main difference is the power cord update to IEC type. See Photos. Includes combo switch and IEC power entry module.
This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!


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Coldplay, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Mumford & Sons, others playing Radio City show (on pre-sale now)
at least 1 of these 3 will be at Radio City in March
"The Secret Policeman's Ball is letting America in on the party: The British-based music and comedy festival is coming to New York in March.
Coldplay, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Mumford & Sons and Russell Brand are among the acts who have signed on for the event at Radio City Music Hall on March 4. The concert will benefit Amnesty International, as it has since it started back in 1976 with celebrities like John Cleese. Over the years, Bono, Sting and others have participated. This will mark the first time it's being held in New York City.
"For us, it's iconic and a very special thing, and has provided the opportunity to really celebrate the presence of freedom of expression and free speech, and how we can move people and how we can bring people together, and just how powerful that is," said Amnesty International spokesman Andy Hackman in an interview Tuesday. "
Reggie Watts is also on the bill. Tickets are on AmEx presale now. They go on general sale Monday at 10am, and range from like US $55.00 - US $505.00.
Coldplay also have shows coming up in NJ and other places.


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Quiz master Jason is on hand to get your grey matter firing!
Your chance to win a £50 tab for food and drink at The Bonaparte and a cash jackpot!!
£2 entry fee per person with free drink questions and a prize for second-to-last place to keep things interesting!
Heaps of fun and some healthy competition!
Booking is recommended :).


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Meeting Abstract
Sunday, Jan. 5 11:30
Bone-free: Soft Mechanics for Adaptive Locomotion
TRIMMER, B.A.; Tufts University
Both muscular hydrostats (such as mollusks) and fluid-filled animals (such as annelids) exploit their constant volume tissues to transfer forces and displacements as articulated animals use hinges and levers. However, body control is more complicated for soft animals with layers of muscle oriented in multiple planes or with compressible tissues. Using caterpillars as a tractable model system it is now possible to identify the novel biomechanical and neural strategies for controlling movements in a highly deformable animal. For example,
Manduca sexta
, can stiffen by increasing muscular tension (and therefore body pressure) but the internal body cavity (hemocoel) is not iso-barometric nor is pressure used to directly control the movements of its limbs. Instead fluid and tissues flow within the hemocoel and the body is soft and flexible to conform to the substrate. During crawling the body is kept in tension for part of the stride and compressive forces are exerted on the substrate along the axis of the caterpillar (an "environmental skeleton"). The timing of muscle activity suggests that crawling is coordinated by proleg retractor motoneurons and that the large segmental muscles produce anterograde waves of movement requiring little timing precision. This strategy produces a robust form of locomotion in which the kinematics changes very little with orientation. In different species of caterpillar the presence of prolegs on particular body segments is related to alternative kinematics such as "inching". Some of these findings are being used to design and test novel control strategies for highly deformable robots. These "Softworm" devices are providing new insights into the challenges faced by any soft animal navigating in a terrestrial three-dimensional world.