text:
2013 Lexus IS350, Reviews, News, & Model Prices – Automobile Magazine
2013 Lexus IS350
By Automobile Magazine 1/31/2013
What's New for IS350 in 2013
The manual transmission has been dropped. The F Sport Package is now available on the convertible. The HD Radio features iTunes tagging, and Bluetooth now downloads your phonebook. There are also a couple of new colors. more
The 2013 Lexus IS350 has a sleek, professional look with a subtle front fascia and smooth sides. It is a high-quality luxury sedan, for a good price, and it comes equipped with all of the luxurious comfort and high-tech convenience features that drivers have come to love in Lexus cars. It also comes with some high-tech options.
The fully galvanized steel body of the 2013 Lexus IS350 comes painted in nine choices of clearcoat monotone paint, from off white/grey to blues, a brown, a red, and a black. The brighter blues and red Mica paint schemes are nicely offset by the dark grille. The black grille defines the front, while the window grid antenna subtly stands in the background, on the windshield. Windows are lightly tinted for a little extra sun protection.
A first-row sunroof comes standard, although it does not come with a sunshade. Handsome silver aluminum wheels come standard, with painted aluminum wheels also available. All-season tires come standard, with the option of performance tires for added handling capabilities when driving in dry conditions.
Interior Cargo
The 2013 Lexus IS350 comes standard with dual-zone automatic air-conditioning in the front, so both the driver and front passenger can ride in their own personal comfort zones. An air filter and under-seat ducts help fresh air circulate through to the back, as rear air-conditioning controls are not available. Front seats are bucket seats and are eight-way power adjustable, to accommodate drivers and passengers of many heights and sizes.
Both front seats also come with lumbar support for added comfort. Heated front seats, for additional comfort on cold days, and cooled front seats, for added comfort on hot days, are also available. Unfortunately, neither heated nor cooled seats are available for the rear.
All seats come upholstered in leather, with luxurious simulated suede/leather upholstery available for a little extra.
The standard audio system is good; it includes an AM/FM/Satellite/six-disc CD player. This audio system responds to voice commands and can also be controlled through buttons on the steering wheel.
Auxiliary audio input and Bluetooth are supported, with the option of DVD-audio compatibility. MP3 capability comes standard, so the driver can listen to personal playlists on an MP3 player. A Mark Levinson Premium Audio package is available, which includes 14 brand speakers and a DVD/CD changer.
A navigation system is available and comes with voice activation and one LCD screen. XM NavTraffic/XM NavWeather is available as an option and includes sports information, stock prices, and fuel prices. A programmable garage door opener comes standard for drivers who would like help with automatic garage doors.
The external temperature is shown on a digital display, so the driver can stay updated on outdoor conditions.
Unfortunately, the only crash-test rating available for the 2013 Lexus IS350 is the rollover resistance rating. On the bright side, the IS350 received five out of five stars in this category, from the NHTSA. This Lexus also comes with all of the airbags: it has driver and front-passenger frontal-impact airbags, seat-mounted driver and passenger side-impact airbags, side-curtain airbags in the first and second rows, and knee-protection airbags for both driver and front passenger.
Airbags come with an occupant sensor. Anti-lock brakes work together with traction control to help the vehicle's tires maintain maximum traction on the road, providing the driver with better control during an emergency. Brake assist comes standard.
An electronic stability system increases vehicle stability during difficult maneuvering, while locking/limited slip differential increases driver control over the vehicle during an emergency or during difficult driving conditions, such as in poor weather.
In-Vehicle Assistance Service, Lexus Enform, comes with stolen-vehicle tracking for added security, especially while travelling. Lexus Enform also includes automatic collision notification, an emergency assist button, enhanced roadside assistance, destination assist, and eDestination and apps suite.
Remote keyless entry is delivered through a key fob, which also comes with a panic alarm that can be used to deter theft. Ignition disable, which prevents a car from being started without its ignition key, also inhibits theft. Although a blind spot sensor is not available, parking assist is—so drivers can have at least some help with parking.
This Lexus warns the driver when tire pressure is low or when it is time to go get the gas tank refilled. It also lets the driver know when tire pressure is low and needs to be topped off.
Driving Experience
The 3.5-liter, 306-horsepower, V-6 engine produces 277 lb-ft of torque and is rated at 19/26-27 mpg city/highway. The IS350 is available as either a rear-drive or all-wheel-drive vehicle. Cruise control comes standard, although adaptive cruise control is not available.
The IS350's suspension is regular tuned, with the option to have it sport tuned, for increased drive and handling capabilities. The front suspension is a double independent suspension, and is supported by an anti-roll bar, coil springs, and gas-pressurized shocks. The rear suspension is a multi-link suspension, and is supported by a rear-anti-roll bar, coil springs, and gas-pressurized shocks.
This suspension and support combination allows for the quiet and responsive drive, even if the sport tuning is not opted for. The ride is also quite comfortable, with the springs and shocks easily absorbing the impact of road imperfections.
Key Competitors For The 2013 Lexus IS350
Audi A4
Audi S4 Audi A5
BMW 3 Series
Infiniti G
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Share this article:
Other articles of the category "Lexus":
Seattle Toyota Lexus Volvo Scion Jaguar Land Rover...
Used Car Review: Lexus LS430 2004-2007
Lexus RX300 Parts and Accessories: Automotive: Ama...
Lexus GX 470 (2009)
Problems with 2001-2006 Lexus LS430 – Club L...
Expensive things and happiness | dawnchorusblog
Lexus RX 330 Review – Research New & Us...
2011 Lexus IS F Parts and Accessories: Automotive:...


text:
- Inside Athletics
- Tickets
- Fan Zone
- Media Zone
- Social
- Shop
- Donate Now
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Sept. 10, 2012) – Preparations for the 2013 ETSU softball season began on Monday as the Lady Bucs opened fall practice at Betty Basler Field.
The Lady Bucs will have five weeks of full team practice which includes eight home games. ETSU's first double header of the fall starts with Mars Hill on Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. Then the Lady Bucs will play a mid-week twinbill against Walter State on Oct. 2. The Blue and Gold's final weekend doubleheader takes place on Oct. 6 versus Tusculum and will wrap up the fall season with a pair of mid-week games against Milligan on Oct 11.
Overall, the Lady Bucs return five of their top six hitters from 2012, including Casey Horner (Whitesburg, Tenn.), Tara Hartnett (Snellville, Ga.), Alex Everett (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.), Sam Lower (Sebring, Fla.) and Haley Thompson (Nicholson, Ga.). Horner led the 2012 squad with a .316 batting average, 24 RBIs, seven homers and a .411 on base percentage. Hartnett posted a second best .315 batting average and a .361 on base percentage. Everett and Horner are the only returners that played in 48 games and made at least 46 starts.
In the circle, the Lady Bucs return top pitcher Katie Wolff (LaGrange, Texas) and add significant depth to the pitching staff with four new arms, including Sam Harrell (Okeechobee, Fla), Kendra Roberts (Marietta, S.C.), Shaylyn Wood (Beacon, N.Y.) and Elliana Cabrera (Hayden Ariz.). Wolff led last year's staff with 24 starts, 15 complete games, 140.2 innings pitched and 75 strikeouts.
For more information on Buccaneer softball, visit ETSUBucs.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Tag Archives: Ballyhoo!
Sunday, August 25, 2013 (Less Than Jake Takeover with Vinnie Fiorello & Buddy Schaub!)
Preview of Big Labor Day Weekend Coming Up! Mama Trish vs. Godzilla (Gainesville) – Let Them Eat Cake (Revolting, eh?) Sunday at Bo Diddley Community Plaza, Downtown Gainesville: 3rd Annual Labor Daze Fest. Started in 2011 to celebrate the people … Continue reading
Posted in Locals Only, Playlists Tagged Ballyhoo!, Blood Filled Hate, Buddy Schaub, Coffee Project, Crash Pad, Duppies, Funks Inc., Houdini's Liquor Cabinet, Human Factors Lab, Labor Daze Fest, Less Than Jake, mama Trish vs. Godzilla, Marion Crane, Morning Fatty, Nook & Cranny, Protagonist, Red City Radio, Ricky Kendall, Rojo Diablo, Savants of Soul, Selfles, Sidereal, The Attack, Vinnie Fiorello, Wake & Bake Weekend, Wester Joseph's Stereo Vudu, Whiskey & Co. Comments Off on Sunday, August 25, 2013 (Less Than Jake Takeover with Vinnie Fiorello & Buddy Schaub!)


text:
What's up CLCP? e-kwentong LC...e-NewsLetter....May 3, 2013 | Story by: |
CLCP Community Christmas Salu Salo
Celebrating Christmas at the CLC Center!The CLC Center Team and National Leadership Communitywould like to invite you for our Merry little Christmas Party at the CLC Center onSaturday, December 15, 2018.... Read more
Quick Questions, Uneasy Answers by Fr. Johnny C. Go, SJ
Here's a Quick Question for you: When was the last time you paused to confront yourself about your faith?... Read more
Jobs at the Vineyard of the Lord
The Christian Life Community of the Philippines (CLCP) is currently accepting applicants for the following positions:1. FI Program Officer: http://bit.ly/clcpfiprogofficer... Read more


text:
Alarm over number of NSW cyclist deaths
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:25 pm
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/na ... 6581827106
FOUR cyclists have already been killed on NSW roads in the first two months of 2013, worrying the state's authorities.
Transport for NSW says in the whole of 2012, seven cyclists killed on NSW roads.
Centre for road safety general manager Marg Prendergast said the four cyclist deaths to February 20 were "alarming".
Bicycle safety advocacy organisation, the Amy Gillett Foundation, said the spike showed more work needed to be done.
"There has been much good work by road authorities, governments and cycling bodies to improve cycling safety particularly in the area of infrastructure at a time when participation is growing," CEO Tracey Gaudry said.
"Unfortunately these sobering facts say one thing: it is not enough."
The Amy Gillett Foundation was established in memory of the elite Australian cyclist, who was killed while training in Germany in 2005.


text:
There are those Biblical scholars, conspiracy theorists and religious "fringe" figures who comb through the Bible Code, the Da Vinci Code or whatever for subtle clues to our planet's impending future. I say they're wasting their time. There's no need to strain your eyes and your imagination looking for signs of the apocalypse in ancient history. All you need to do is keep your eyes peeled to popular culture. Take, for example, this chilling tidbit ripped right from the pages of People magazine: Last week, "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest was given his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ... People, if there's a clearer sign of the our culture's doom, I don't know what it could be.
"American Idol" judge Simon Cowell, in attendance at the star's unveiling alongside Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, was asked to sum up Seacrest's honor. With overpracticed grumpiness, he mirrored the sentiments of many people across the country and dubbed it "ill-deserved." Ostensibly, Seacrest's honor was not merely for reading the voting phone numbers off cue cards each week on "American Idol." It was also for his distinguished "15-year career" in radio. (Which, for those mathematically minded fans in the audience, would mean the 30-year-old Seacrest was a wage-earner at 15.)
Seeing the grinning, freakishly tanned Seacrest being enshrined alongside such show biz legends as Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe got me thinking, however. What exactly goes into putting someone on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
First of all, you have to be nominated. Someone (other than you) has to write in and recommend you. Every June, a five-person committee (one person for each category: movies, television, radio, recording and live theater) meets and sifts through the multiple nominations. The lucky few are then sent along to the Chamber of Commerce. If the Chamber approves, the nominees are bumped to the Board of Public Works. (The stars are, after all, imbedded in a public sidewalk.) After that, it's on to final approval from the City Council of Los Angeles itself. Seems like a pretty lengthy set of checks and balances.
Once you've been approved, your star has to be paid for. The $15,000 cost of the ceremony, the installation and the maintenance is usually picked up by movie studios or fan clubs. And not all stars have accepted the honor. Julia Roberts and Clint Eastwood are among those who have turned down their chance to be stepped on.
Let's not kid ourselves. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is hardly akin to a Nobel Peace Prize. It's a tourist attraction for the city of Los Angeles. And it's not like the Walk is above going with trendy stars who will soon be lost to the sands of time. Renée Adorée, Heather Angel, Klaus Landsberg, Craighton Hale and Ignacy Paderewski aren't exactly household names these days. Heck, you don't even have to be human. Lassie, Donald Duck and Godzilla are among the nonhuman honorees. ... Still, in my book, Ryan Seacrest is no Ignacy Paderewski.


text:
his pooh has been a ugly yellowish color and is sometimes seedy others not and is most of the time around the size of a half dollar
his pooh has been a ugly yellowish color and is sometimes seedy others not and is most of the time around the size of a half dollar
You can call me JoMo!
Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.
Yellow is good! When a baby is making predominantly yellow poops, you know he's getting plenty to eat, and that he's getting the right proportions of watery, refreshing milk to creamy, satisfying milk. It's kind of a shocking color, if you're not used to breastfed baby poop. But you get used to it!
If your breastfed baby is pooping lots (at least 3 times a day the size of a half dollar) you do not need to count pees! A baby who is pooping wet, runny and or seedy, yellowish breastmilky poops is not having any issues getting enough milk! This is good good good! If you think these poops are yucky, trust me, formula poops are way way way worse.
You are recovering from major abdominal surgery and so your whole system is all out of whack. Plus you are a new mom-utterly overwhelming physically and emotionally no matter how you feed your baby. This will all seem much more manageable in just a few short weeks. Until then, nurse your darling healthy baby, get as much rest as you can, and let your family take care of you so you can heal and take care of your baby, which, in the very early weeks, amounts to sitting down (or lying down) and cuddling and nursing & loving that sweet baby.
This article may help reassure you, or any family members who think you need to be feeding baby formula: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html
and diaper log: http://www.llli.org/docs/00000000000...diaper_log.pdf
Last edited by @llli*lllmeg; February 22nd, 2012 at 08:42 PM.
But your doctor's advice has me See, I was given almost the exact same advice with my first. I nursed, I pumped (I didn't offer a bottle, even though my doctor said to, because I knew he was getting enough because his stools looked like what you describe). Over and over. And I pumped myself right into a really BAD oversupply. I have one naturally, but pumping is increased demand, and if baby is nursing well, you don't need increased demand. And a few weeks later, he had all the signs of a baby affected by OS and over active letdown, and he had acid reflux to boot. So I had one un happy baby on my hands, along with PPD on my part. It was not fun at all. And looking back, a lot of it stemmed from the bad advice to pump. I should have just watched my baby.
Babies will always take a bottle after nursing, so don't use that as a sign that baby is hungry. Instead, switch sides and keep nursing.
Have an IBCLC show you how to nurse laying down That is an easy place to nurse in, and just work on two things: caring for baby and recovering.
You should not be doing housework, etc at this time. I have, but my recovery after my second baby -- where I did take a babymoon --was much easier, faster and more joyful than with the first -- all that pumping! -- my third -- all that housework -- and my fourth, a cleft baby, where all bets were off.
Mama to my all-natural boys: Ian, 9-4-04, 11.5 lbs; Colton, 11-7-06, 9 lbs, in the water; Logan, 12-8-08, 9 lbs; Gavin, 1-18-11, 9 lbs; and an angel 1-15-06
18+ months and for Gavin, born with an incomplete cleft lip and incomplete posterior cleft palate
Sealed for time and eternity, 7-7-93
Always babywearing, cosleeping and cloth diapering. Living with oppositional defiant disorder and ADHD. Ask me about cloth diapering and sewing your own diapers!


text:
Beach homes conjure visions of serenity and relaxation: the lull of the waves, the exhaustion of a day spent in the sun, the promise of a lazy evening on the deck with an ocean view.
In the interest of pure escapism, we've assembled a collection of some of the most beautiful beach homes on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, from the Caribbean to the Iberian peninsula to Southeast Asia. And while it's not exactly tropical in the U.K., the British did set an historic beach resort precedent, so we've got one century-old home in a British seaside community.
Most of these serene homes were provided by KnightFrank Commercial and Residential estate agents, along with one dazzling beach mansion in Thailand from Hunter Sotheby's International Realty.
By Colleen KanePosted 30 May 2012


text:
QPR defender Clint Hill has hailed the club's latest signing Loic Remy after he marked his Premier League debut with a goal.
The 26-year-old, who joined for a club record £8 million fee from Marseille on Wednesday, opened the scoring as the Rs earned a 1-1 draw against West Ham at Upton Park on Saturday.
And club captain Hill believes the Frenchman will play a pivotal role in the west London side's bid to avoid relegation this season.
|QPR are 2/1 to finish bottom of the Premier League with William Hill
Hill told reporters: "It was brilliant to see him take that chance. If we can keep the ball and create a few more chances for him he will go on and be a great signing for us.
"Hopefully he can kick-start our campaign."
The Liverpool-born centre-back also reflected on QPR's campaign thus far, and hinted at a belief that his side can pull themselves out of the mire.
"We've had a terrible season, that's the blunt truth. To find ourselves only four points behind shows other teams are struggling in this league," he added.


text:
Choosing a rehabilitation facility or an assisted living community for a loved one can be daunting. Many of the options seem similar, and it's difficult to know which one would be right for … more
As adult children, it's human nature to view our aging parents through rose-colored glasses. After all, they are the wise, strong-bodied individuals who nurtured us, then became our friends and … more
Staci Rosenberg-Simons, Director of Community Relations Gurwin Jewish ~ Fay J. Lindner Residences Assisted Living Community | 9/21/18
When weighing retirement options, you may reach the point where you're ready for your priorities to shift from the daily upkeep of your too-big house to more personal, enjoyable pursuits. What … more
By Laurie Stambler, Director of Sales & Marketing at Fountaingate Gardens, a Gurwin Community | 7/26/18
Stress is part of our everyday lives. In fact, some stress is good because it motivates us to accomplish our goals—but stress can also have a negative impact on our health, compromising our … more
By Dawn Lettau, CTRS | 4/20/18


text:
Chemical & Related Manufacturing: Background
The chemical industry is composed of producers of chemicals, household cleansers, plastics, rubber, paints and explosives. Its products are used on a daily basis by millions of Americans -- they're everywhere -- but despite health problems that have been linked to some of them, there has been a dearth of study and regulatory action in the area, leaving a number of questions about safety unanswered.
Contributions from political action committees and employees associated with the industry spiked dramatically in recent years, reaching close to $47 million during the 2012 cycle.
Until then, the industry had never spent more than $13.5 million in any given election since at least 1990. The main protagonist of the 2012 spike was Harold Simmons, the owner of a holding company, Contran Corp., the subsidiaries of which are involved in chemicals, metals, hazardous waste disposal and other work. Calling Barack Obama, who was running for re-election in 2012, "the most dangerous man in America," Simmons and his companies gave $31.7 million in that cycle to various Republican super PACs and other entities to try to defeat him. Simmons himself died in 2013, and the industry's contributions in 2014 settled back down to about $14.2 million -- still the most it had ever spent in a midterm election.
Regardless of the party in power, the chemical industry has consistently leaned red.
Chemical groups are in a near constant state of conflict with environmentalists and consumer advocates -- key constituency groups of Democrats. This was one of the few industries to contribute more money to John McCain than Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election. Since then, it has shown an even stronger preference for Republicans, who received 77 percent of its political donations during the 2012 cycle. Since 1990, Republicans have received nearly three-quarters of the $141 million contributed by the industry.
In recent years, the industry has expanded its lobbying efforts. At the federal level, it spent a record $64.7 million in 2014, when chemical interests were pushing for a bill sponsored by Sens. Mark Udall (D-N.M.) and David Vitter (R-La.) that would overhaul the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. The legislation was disavowed by environmental advocates for weakening states' regulatory authority, but it was reintroduced in 2015. And in the aftermath of the early 2014 chemical spills in West Virginia and North Carolina, several industry giants intensified their lobbying efforts, including Dow Chemical, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, and Eastman Chemical, which produced coal-washing agents that leaked into the Elk River. Regulations of genetically modified organisms are also on the chemical industry's radar; in 2013, Dupont Co. joined biotechnology company Monsanto in lobbying to defeat a Senate GMO labeling bill.---Clark Mindock, May 2015
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.


text:
Over $1 Billion in One Day
I was amazed at the online black Friday number of over $648 Million in sales on November 25th, 2010 and now on November 29th there was over $1 Billion sales. Just as Friday is known as Black Friday, Monday is known as Cyber Monday. Both days are incredible. More detail is found at the comScore Press Release.
That figure was 16% higher than the previous year. Incredible.


text:
|2008-04-03, 16:53
|Link #1
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Hellsing Movie
just found this link through a friend. Looks badass! But not sure why the focus is just on Seras. www.imagenfilms.com/HellsingTrailer.mov
haven't been able to find anything else about this.
|2008-04-03, 17:06
|Link #2
Join Date: Feb 2006
Majority of Hellsing fans are males (I presume), why not have a hot girl run around with a big gun. Possibly trying to imitate the success of Underworld or Resident Evil which both had a female lead.
Can't wait to see Integra.
Girl + Cigar + Male Butler = EPIC!!!
Last edited by kayos; 2008-04-03 at 17:19.
|2008-04-03, 18:03
|Link #3
Senior Member
you don't seem to know what hellsing is :P
seras is not the main character, alucard is XD
here's the ova discussion
anyway about the link, considering the site it doesn't seem completely real to me, is this an official movie? cause i get the feeling of fan-made, then again this could be their first big production or something like that..
|2008-04-03, 18:04
|Link #4
Waiting for more taiyuki!
Join Date: Jan 2004
I agree that it's definitely trying to mimic the other titles, especially the shot of her eye near the end of the trailer. Plus Seras' rifle isn't that big. She just has a normal sniper rifle.
Also, those ghouls just don't look like ghouls, especially permanently dead ones.
I hope that those people weren't serious about this.
|2008-04-03, 18:08
|Link #5
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Rifle size
the gun looks exactly like the first rifle she uses when she is introduced to the story.
also, I emailed email@example.com and haven't heard from them yet.
|2008-04-03, 18:09
|Link #6
Senior Member
actually about the sniper rifle it could be the one she had before halcanon :P
this is based on the Hellsing manga for sure, i'm pretty sure selas is only from there in that context so it's either fan-made or official with the consent of hirano kohta..
|2008-04-03, 18:32
|Link #8
Senior Member
she used that rifle to kill plenty of ghouls in the begining.. i think it's after anderson broke it that she was given the new one..
anyway the one thing i don't like about this is the fact alucard isn't there.. other then that it's pure awsome
|2008-04-03, 21:13
|Link #9
Join Date: Feb 2006
Oh and if you want to know what the director wrote himself here's his comment:
Spoiler for Director's letter:
|2008-04-04, 03:10
|Link #12
Random Object
Join Date: Dec 2007
Now the question would be who the cast might be? I could almost see a Johnny Depp Alucard, Integra would be an interesting character to cast too. Hmm. Imagine is a division of Universal and run by Ron Howard, having also paired with Dreamworks in the past apparently the actor selection is pretty broad depending on how big a budget they received.
|2008-04-04, 03:19
|Link #13
Just call me Ojisan
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: U.K. Hampshire
|2008-04-04, 10:31
|Link #14
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Hellsing movie NOT April Fool's
I emailed the director and got a response. here is a response to someone else's email from another forum. i'm using this response because it's a bit clearer than the one he sent to me..... (by the way here is the new link to the preview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl4bJqmY5KQ)
999th email? No more like 699th. Lol. There really is very little I can say about this project. Yes it happening. Yes her Seras eyes are blue most of the time. Yes Alucard is absolutely part of this. The story is more of a Seras origin story however, which makes it easier for the audience unfamiliar with Hellsing to be more naturally brought into the world. No high-heels. This was a wardrobe mistake for the trailer. This is not a super-hero film. One of my first conditions was for it NOT to be like a Resident Evil, or similar film. It is a very dark, gritty and grounded project unlike most comic-to-film adaptations out there.
Thanks for your interest and keep your eyes out for official news down the road.
Marty Martin
Director / DP / Editor
|Thread Tools


text:
It's a great little tune with SYNCOPATED pizzicato strings, various woodwinds, and a SOPRANO SAX for the melody!
Great for lists, details, information, thinking, etc.
- It is DETAILED and FRIENDLY
- It is LIVELY and PUNCHY
- It will definitely give a MAXIMUM BOOST to anything you should pair it with.
- It's got FAST PARTS and it's got SLOW PARTS.
- In FACT, I recommend you buy this track JUST TO LISTEN TO while you STUDY FOR THE GENIUS EXAM to get into FANCY PANTS University.
ENLIGHTEN THE MASSES. List, explain, elaborate, just don't bore the clients! My new track Intricate Details can help you! Great for commercials, flash games, corporate projects, etc: It's an excellent track for your project!
Hope you'll enjoy this one !
Don't forget to rate this item after your purchase


text:
Don Wallace Sells Tampa Mansion for $6.75M
September 6, 2011 by RVBusiness · Comments Off on Don Wallace Sells Tampa Mansion for $6.75M
LazyDays RV king Don Wallace has sold his South Tampa mansion for $6.75 million.
Wallace and his wife Erika transferred the 15,396-square-foot estate Thursday to Carmen and Harry Barkett, president of Amalie Oil Co., county property records show, The St. Petersburg Times reported.
Realtor Toni Everett listed and sold the five-bedroom, 12-bathroom home at 1801 Bayshore Blvd. Wallace's asking price had been $10.5 million.
The sale of Wallace's mansion is among Hillsborough County's priciest homes transactions in recent years: In July 2010, Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik bought a $6 million South Tampa home as well as an adjacent lot for $2.5 million.
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter paid $7.7 million for a Davis Islands property covering three lots and millions more to build and design a home.


text:
Posted on April 30, 2010
Hey, I got somebody's collection of party records. These are records people used to play at parties. You say you could've figured that out by yourself? But I don't mean that. I mean PARTY records.
Once upon a time, before George Carlin explained it all, there were words you could not use on a record. This made life tough for comedians whose material was what they used to call "Blue" or "Stag" or, well, "Smutty". And there were comedians as well who did material that could be done at a church picnic AND material that was best saved for the smoky air of a nightclub. The first material could be released commercially, but the latter routines could (technically) not.
So very small, very private record labels, one of which even called itself "Party Records", existed to purvey naughty gags for people to play privately. (Most of these records state that may NOT be played over the radio.) Such stuff comes in a variety of forms. There are naughty songs (Oscar Brand, Alan Arkin, and others released bawdy folksongs, while singers like Rusty Warren came out with new material.) There are naughty monologues, often no more than one extended joke that went on for the whole record. One or two of these manage to be exceedingly smutty without using a single naughty word, while others will blister your speakers. Yeah, even if you're a rap fan.
And there are naughty skits. Actually, there seem to be two skits, redone in multiple variations (as any good vulgar comic would approve.) One is where THEY know what they're talking about and YOU don't, until the end. (That honeymoon couple is trying to turn the key in in the suitcase lock. What did you THINK they were talking about?) The other is where you and the straight man know what's going on, but the comic doesn't. (They're interviewing someone to work in a mine but he's in the wrong room and gets the wrong idea, what with all those questions about drilling.) Ah, the classics!
Is there any value of passing this material on to the next generation? Well, I like the answer a Newberry librarian gave a patron who asked why a late 19th century book on fishing in upstate New York was worth preserving. She was told, "We don't censor culture." If it's part of the history of the people you're studying, you'll miss part of their story if you don't consider the bypaths of research.
And, anyway, it's good for the current generation to be reminded that they didn't invent this stuff.


text:
LICDC, the Lot International Cave Diving Congress will take place on the 15th, 16th & 17th of next September.
It is the great biennial rendezvous for world cave divers.
Confirmed divers, experienced divers, major names come to share their technical, talk about their last equipments and their explorations…
Come to the conferences, round tables, watch movies, photographs, and equipments exhibitors.
Discover why Lot region, is the third world destination for cave diving.
Outdoor animations will also be there to give fun and pleasure for everybody
Refreshment bar, Marché gourmand Friday evening, Gala dinner Saturday…
Book your Congress pack at https://licdc.org/fr/le-congres/billetterie/


text:
2011 Iowa Credit Unions for Kids Totals
The Children's Miracle Network Hospital team was able to track credit union donations based on the state where the credit union is located (instead of the state where the hospital is located as has been done in previous years.)
Click here to download the 2011 Iowa totals.
These numbers should be a more accurate depiction of the Credit Unions for Kids participation among credit unions chartered in Iowa.
Thanks to all Iowa credit unions who've donated their time and resources towards CMN's Credit Unions for Kids program.


text:
An Absolute Linux Review: Absolute Linux is a stripped-down version of Slackware. It is made for speed, stability, security, and ease-of-use and development. Its chief aim is to make installation and maintenance easier than of the original Slackware. Absolute Linux uses the ultra-lightweight IceWM window manager and ROX for handling files.
Currently, my backup computer has Windows XP and Zenwalk 3.0. I was already looking forward to erase my old Linux partition and at the same time try other distros that would fit to replace Zenwalk. Then just recently, I was asked to review Absolute Linux and upon reading some articles and a review about this distro, my curiosity was aroused. And so I downloaded the latest release version, burned it, and this time I installed it directly to the hard drive after saving some of my important files to an external storage device utilizing a Linux backup software, and placing other files on several online backup services. Here is my full adventure and my observation of Absolute Linux 12.0.6.
Test Machine Specs:
Board: Intel D101GGCL
Processor: 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 with HT Technology
Hard Drive: Samsung 80GB PATA
Memory: 1.5GB 400 MHz DDR RAM
Graphics Card: On-board
Absolute Linux is made in the USA, developed by Paul Sherman, and currently stands at number 32 in Distrowatch. From Absolute website it says, "Absolute is NOT a Windows wannabe. It does not try to do everything for you. All software updating/adding must be done as root user (administrator to Windows fans) as well as any configuration changes. Login is text-based, as is the installer. There are not handfuls of daemons running nor are the bloats of KDE or Gnome present."
Absolute Linux is made in the USA, developed by Paul Sherman, and currently stands at number 32 in Distrowatch. From Absolute website it says, "Absolute is NOT a Windows wannabe. It does not try to do everything for you. All software updating/adding must be done as root user (administrator to Windows fans) as well as any configuration changes. Login is text-based, as is the installer. There are not handfuls of daemons running nor are the bloats of KDE or Gnome present."
The download site for Absolute can be found here. The installation is not quite for beginners as it is only text-based, but I will give a little walk-through as a guide to those who needed help in installing Absolute. The first part of installation is the boot option prompt. I did not gave any parameter and just pressed enter until I reached the part where I have to choose to start the installation or to perform the other given options. I chose to install by typing 'setup' then enter. The setup menu appeared and I started the install by adding swap. The installer appropriately used my old Xubuntu swap and root partition so I didn't have to do the partitioning. It also detected my Windows partition and gave me an option to mount it. I was also asked to pick what file system to use and I selected ReiserFS. Then, I was again prompted for the location or the media that I would use to install Absolute. I chose to install 'Absolute from CD' of course and from there, the installer copied the necessary system files and applications which only took around 10 minutes to complete, followed by a few hardware configuration options and installation of Lilo. I restarted, and at first boot, I was given an option to set a root password and then I let Absolute automatically configure Xorg.conf. I found the installation really successful as my usb, sound, video, and ethernet were configured well.
Look and Feel:
The login menu is text-based by default just like the installation, but it can easily be changed to a simple graphical menu. I logged in to an IceWM desktop and found out that my 17 inch monitor's screen resolution was highly set to 1600x1200 and 70Hz refresh rate; but then it was easily fixed. There are also plenty of nice themes and wallpapers to choose from. IceWM's GUI is a little tricky to use at first, but once you are used to it, then you will love it just like I do because of its speed and responsiveness. There's also an easy option to use Fluxbox window manager but I don't recommend using it as I bumped into several problems after I tried it.
Package Magement:
On Absolute Linux, some of the best free and open-source applications are already pre-installed. There's Firefox, Gimp, SMPlayer, Samba, Ktorrent, K3B CD/DVD Burner, Abiword, Qt Designer, some games, and many more. Java Runtime Environment and Flash is also installed by default. For advanced users, you will find a couple of Linux terminal emulators that can be used for automating tasks as well as doing other important stuff. Plus, managing software is a lot easier thanks to its GUIs called Gslapt and XPKGTool.
I consider Absolute Linux stable enough for daily desktop computing. I was impressed by its speed and steadiness even when I opened several key applications simultaneously including a python script I made that did an automatic backup by getting some of my files from Windows, compressed it, and then saved it to the root Linux directory. Though I did encounter some minor bugs, I don't think that it's serious enough to greatly affect its overall performance.
Absolute Linux 12.0.6.will definitely stay on my hard drive for now, and I will be playing with it within the next few weeks until I can fully decide whether it could stay a lot longer, or not. Based only from my initial tests, I can say that it has the potential to replace my older Zenwalk system. I don't really consider Absolute Linux newbie-friendly, but all things considered, Absolute Linux is absolutely a worthy distro to watch.


text:
It is amazing how Nature can be so generous, so wonderful when it comes to giving us what we need to continue breathing and growing, and to improve our lifestyle. I cherish every moment spent in nature, every beautiful scene, every breeze, every sunlight, every tree. Ohh, how I love trees!. How I love the small cedar I planted in our home garden 3 years ago and that is growing splendidly.
We've been spending almost every weekend in the village. And lately, I've been feeling a little more nostalgic and emotional when it comes to my home village, especially when the weekend ends and we have to go back to our routinely daily life in the city. I think, these emotions are a result to the major life change that's gonna occur in my life, hopefully, soon. Yes, I said hopefully, because it's the kind of shift that we need, to experience more opportunities, more potentials in our life.
That what leaves me with a tear in my eye, every time I leave my home village. Is it a fear of not returning there for a long period of time, or is it something else, well I'm not sure!!
Fall is here. And our days spent at the village are almost over. Winter days are a bit harsh there. Some seasonal fruits, persimmon, pomegranates, are ripened now. So I took the advantage to take some pictures and share them with you in this post. No recipes, just photos. Hope you enjoy them.


text:
We don't normally do stories about Microsoft on TalkAndroid, but there's a rumor going around about a new streaming music service coming from Redmond codenamed "Woodstock" that could run on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. The service will likely stream music through the phone's browser, but there is no mention of a native app. This is unfortunate since native apps tend to be more streamlined and responsive than browser-based services.
Supposedly, Woodstock will be closer to Spotify with the ability to identify music you already own, a la iTunes Match. This suggests it will not be simply a music locker-type service like Amazon MP3 or Google Music, but it is unclear exactly how it will work.
It's great to see more competition in the music streaming space, but until we get more details about Woodstock, it's impossible to judge how it will stand up against the other services out there. In my opinion, services that are seamlessly built into an ecosystem will almost always be the better choice than a third party option simply because of the convenience and level of integration possible. The operative word there is "almost" since I can think of examples where the third party option wins (think Netflix vs. Google Movies).
Look for Woodstock announcements at this year's E3, which starts June 5.
source: theverge
via: pocketnow


text:
ludakrishna wrote:The Falcons gave up 5 picks to move up and get him. Haven't been following the prospects. If we want a WR like him, we need to trade up. Wont get him at our draft position.
hawker84 wrote:i would love Julio.. i would take Victor cruz or Brandon Marshall as well.. bowe has some drop issues doesn't he.?
hawker84 wrote:whoa, cruz and marshall are at the top of that list.. i would've never guessed that... i'd still want either one of them but wow.
RolandDeschain wrote:Golden Tate has had two passes dropped in the past two seasons. Wow. Both this season, as last year he was the only receiver to not have a dropped pass.
Talk about sure hands...If he can keep developing his route-running, he could be a truly elite receiver.


text:
Tonight On Security Theater: After Hours Airport Antics Expose Security Tunnel Vision
from the pay-no-attention-to-the-men-beyond-the-checkpoint dept
Aviation security experts who have seen the video say it doesn't show any major security concerns because the two guys were ticketed passengers who had already been screened by the TSA.Hmm, so, the fact that they were "ticketed" and "already screened" means that there's nothing that they could have gotten their hands on, as they made their way through the terminal (at one point, entering the kitchen of a restaurant), that might pose a threat to other travelers? While I don't think anyone should be freaking out about these incidents, they do seem to lend credence to the idea that many of the actions taken by the TSA are just for show, while obvious security holes are left wide open. They'll go out of their way to make sure a baby isn't the next underwear bomber, but can't even send someone to remind some marauding men to stick to the designated passenger areas and quit messing with airport property? Good show.


text:
Nov. 13, 2004
CUMBERLAND, Maine - Saturday's performance was truly bittersweet for MIT's cross country program. While the team rejoiced in Ben Schmeckpeper's defense of the NCAA Division III New England Regional individual championship, the team surly felt the sting of coming so close to a National berth, only to lose it by falling to sixth overall in the 39-team field.
On any given day, the Engineers have proved to be worthy of a shot at the National Championship. During the campaign, MIT moved from regional contenders to the national polls, garnering the No. 20 spot in the latest Division III rankings. The climb up the rankings hasn't been without merit, as Tech consistently has shown it can compete with any team in the country. Unfortunately for the Engineers, last Saturday was one of the team's worst starts of the season and despite the desire to advance, the deficit was too great to overcome.
Schmeckpeper was clearly the highlight of the day, unveiling a tremendous command over Twin Brooks' hilly terrain. Schmeckpeper casually moved to the front around the two-mile mark before racing across the final three miles of the circuit in 14:58. Backed by a 4:50 final mile, Schmeckpeper preserved his narrow edge over Williams College All-America Neal Holtschulte, and broke the tape in 25:37. Holtschulte finished sixth overall at last year's National Championships.
Finishing second for the Engineers was senior John Brewer. A consistent performer all season, Brewer maintained his position throughout the battle and finished 23rd overall with a clip of 26:48. Carlos Renjifo finished 49th to give Tech three runners among the top 50. A strong finish enabled Renjifo to make some late passes and complete the course in 27:26. Kevin Brulois and Fivos Constantinou completed the scoring for MIT by also finishing the race strong. Brulois placed 57th in 27:35, while Constantinou finished 60th after crossing the line in 27:39.
Tufts University won the race with 62 points. Williams College ensured its trip to Nationals with a fantastic effort en route to second, while Keene State and Bates College secured the final two team spots for the New England region. Qualifying for the third straight year as an individual, Schmeckpeper will make the trip to Colfax, Wis., to race in the NCAA Division III Championship.


text:
When I meet students or instructors, I am sometimes asked to evaluate their technique. Of course, we all practice different styles and we are all different.
When I do evaluate students or instructors, I do not ask myself whether they are faster or stronger than me, or other people. I ask myself how much of their potential they have realized.
This is very important.
It is OK to try to be better than other people. But suppose you are in a group of weak people. Being the best in this group might not be saying very much at all.
Even if a student is better than 20 other people, the question should be how he is compared to the best that he could be. He might be the best student in the class, but have only reached 50% of his potential. If he had a confrontation with his twin who had reach 100% of his potential, he would surely lose.
So, to be better than other people is OK as a starting point, but to be the best you can possibly be is the real goal.
As you age, you will find that your strength and speed will decline. It is a natural thing. If you rely on raw strength and speed, your Karate life will become very challenging, maybe even miserable.
That is why it is essential that you try to become the very best that you can be, that you learn to become very efficient, that you learn to generate power with you entire body rather than just your extremities.
Work to become the best you can be.
Charles C. Goodin
Meeting Karate Students -- Technique
When I meet students or instructors, I am sometimes asked to evaluate their technique. Of course, we all practice different styles and we are all different.
Posted by Charles C. Goodin on Monday, March 12, 2007


text:
posted by Thom Holwerda on Sat 12th Jan 2008 21:43 UTC
A new version of E16 has been released. "Fix rendering issues when using pseudo-transparency; fix translucent moves of non-shaped windows; fix border right click (winops menu) in many themes; fix incorrect tracking of pointer motion when dragging window; fix potential trouble while exiting/restarting; various minor bug fixes and enhancements, see ChangeLog for details." Get it here.


text:
Search for artists and concerts
Search for artists
Blue Man Group Las Vegas
Nov 21st 2017 @ Blue Man Theater at LuxorLas Vegas, NV
I Was There
Tuesday, November 21st, 2017
Blue Man Theater at Luxor
3900 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89119
Blue Man Group is comedy, theater, rock concert and dance party all rolled into one. You'll be closer to the action than ever before at the specially designed Blue Man Theater at Luxor Hotel and Casino. It's an outrageous multi-sensory experience you'll never forget. New music, new design, new technology and a new finale to bring the entire audience together for a euphoric celebration of life in full color. Guests under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult 18 and over. Guests 16 years of age and over may attend alone with a valid government issue photo ID.View All Blue Man Group Las Vegas Tour Dates


text:
Fred, 28 May 2018
I found some one already from Europe & we are communicating frequently. We do feel the chemistry between us, potential & ability. Thanks a million times to this sites management. Indeed u are my in laws . Keep doing the wonderful job. God bless you. Read More »


text:
BOSTON, MA — Three groups have initiated efforts to help personal trainers increase their credibility and professional standing. If followed through, these efforts could create changes in the education and certification of personal trainers.
While the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) has been working with certifying agencies to develop standards for certifying groups, the International Association of Fitness Certifying Agencies (IAFCA) has introduced a seal of excellence for personal trainers that it hopes will become standard in the industry. The founder of another group is working with a board to develop a national exam for personal trainers and is lobbying for state licensing.
IHRSA's efforts during the past year to develop standards for certifying agencies drew criticism from some certifying organizations that were not initially included in the process. Now, IHRSA has widened its group to include twice as many certifying agencies — all of whom will meet this month prior to the start of the IHRSA show in Las Vegas to determine the group's next steps.
"The process is inclusive," said Bill Howland, director of public relations and research at IHRSA. "It is our understanding that there are 200 certifying agencies. We didn't have the ability to send out invitations to all 200 certifying agencies. We are not excluding anyone who is interested in enhancing consumer safety. We want to acknowledge and thank groups that have stepped up on their own and expressed concerns about consumer safety, but our initiative is not an endorsement or censure of any group."
In December, IHRSA recommended that as of Dec. 31, 2004, IHRSA member health clubs hire personal trainers who hold at least one current certification from a certifying organization that has obtained third-party accreditation of its certification procedures and protocols from an independent, experienced and nationally recognized accrediting body. IHRSA identified the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, the accreditation body of the National Organization for Competency Assurance, as an acceptable accrediting organization. It also stated it may recognize other accrediting organizations in the future. Two other accreditation groups exist in the United States.
Certifying agencies are scrambling to get accreditation because of IHRSA's recommendation, said Ron J. Clark, president of the National Federation of Personal Trainers, a certifying agency that has sent a letter of intent to NCCA to seek accreditation. However, he said, the long accreditation process and certain NCCA financial requirements may make it difficult for some newer and smaller certifying agencies to become accredited.
Clark is working on his own initiative, which he hopes will keep government regulations out of the health club industry. Last year, Clark set up the International Association of Fitness Certifying Agencies (IAFCA) and the Ethics and Safety Compliance Standard (ESCS). The ESCS is the "policing arm" of the nonprofit IAFCA. The ESCS will issue a "seal of excellence" to certified personal trainers who pay $35, download documents from the ESCS Web site and sign off on an agreement to comply with the standards set out by the group. Prospective clients can log onto the group's Web site to see if a particular personal trainer has the seal of excellence.
Clients can report trainer misconduct to the group. Upon receipt of a complaint, an ESCS Suspension Committee is randomly appointed from the ESCS Compliant Trainer Database. These peer trainers, possessing a variety of certification credentials and a seal of excellence, decide whether to suspend the seal of excellence from that trainer. The finding is forwarded to the appropriate certifying agency for its consideration.
Dr. Sal Arria, co-founder and executive director of the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), has taken the personal trainer issue in a different direction by organizing a group called the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE), which will test personal trainers, lobby for state licensure of personal trainers and reimbursement by insurance companies, and promote to the public and medicine the use of personal trainers for health and prevention reasons.
Most medical and health care providers must pass national competency exams to be recognized as professionals. A national exam for personal trainers would offer that professional recognition to the personal trainer and would help the medical community accept personal trainers as a truly regulated profession, said Arria, executive director of the nonprofit NBFE. The group hopes that with this recognition, doctors will begin writing prescriptions for exercise, which will have a huge impact on preventing most diseases while also benefiting insurance companies, doctors, personal trainers and health clubs.
"Since 1915, the medical profession has used the National Board of Medical Examiners to test the competency of physicians no matter what medical school they attended," said Arria. "The fitness profession has experienced tremendous growth over the past 10 years. Numerous organizations offering personal trainers education have popped up, some very good and some not so good."
By the first quarter of 2005, the NBFE will have in place a nationally approved, unbiased examination for three levels of personal trainers — one for floor instructors who don't necessarily need a four-year degree, one for four-year degreed personal trainers, and one for four-year degreed medical exercise specialists. After these exams are put in place, NBFE plans to develop exams for other personal training specialties, such as youth fitness and senior fitness.
The NBFE is working with individual states to accept the NBFE competency exam results and issue state licenses rather than each state eventually setting its own regulations.
"It is our position that we can self regulate this industry," Arria said. "We do not need an outside organization or a regulatory commission telling us what to do."
However, Clark at the ESCS doesn't support state licensing whether the initiative is instigated by the industry or not. He prefers that the government stay out of the industry all together. If the NBFE's efforts go forward, however, Clark plans to urge state legislators to also require his group's seal of excellence. By doing so, the state legislatures would be showing the importance of competency, public safety and trainer conduct, Clark said.
"The NBFE is establishing competency," said Clark. "We are establishing public safety and conduct."
Eventually, the ESCS hopes that its seal of excellence will become well-enough known that club members will look for the seal before selecting a personal trainer.
"Even if the certifying agencies don't endorse the ESCS, it will still grow because it will be marketed to the personal trainers," Clark said. "They will see other trainers with this seal and they will want it, too."
IHRSA is taking a "wait and see" stance on the two groups' efforts, preferring to let each group present to the certifying agencies at the March meeting and getting input from those agencies before deciding whether to support the efforts.
"We want to cultivate a situation where everyone can express their opinion and be heard," said Howland at IHRSA. "We have to build consensus for the industry."


text:
Chicago — Life Fitness had a 9 percent sales increase in the second quarter despite difficulties in the consumer side of the business, according to earnings released last month by Brunswick Corp., owner of Life Fitness, Schiller Park, IL.
"Their new products and great efforts by the commercial businesses in Life Fitness were the foundation of this nice growth in sales and earnings," Dustan McCoy, chairman and CEO of Brunswick, said in a call with analysts.
In addition to Life Fitness, Brunswick has a bowling/billiards division and a marine division. The marine division has faced decreased earnings due to a soft market. The company has restructured this division, including the closing of several boat-manufacturing plants. Restructuring charges were $83.1 million during the quarter, compared with $1.1 million in the second quarter of last year. The restructuring led the company as a whole to lose $6 million in the second quarter compared to a profit of $56.9 million in the same quarter last year.
Second quarter sales for Brunswick declined 2.5 percent to $1.49 billion from $1.52 billion in the same quarter last year.
McCoy noted that he expects a loss in the second half of the year for Brunswick but a profit for the full year.
Pete Leemputte, Brunswick's CFO, noted that the fourth quarter of the year is typically the strong selling season for Life Fitness.


text:
Like a broken record, Obama claims to need four more years to fix the economy because he inherited from George W. Bush the worst economy since the Great Depression. He tells us when he took office he found it was worse than he thought, but that rings hollow. After all, if he thought it was the worst since the Great Depression, how much worse could it have been? Regardless, we need to revisit the claim that this is the worst economy since the Great Depression. Is it really? I think Ronald Reagan would argue differently were he with us today.
According to historical data of the Federal Reserve Bank, when Obama took office, the Fed's prime interest rate was only 3.25%. By contrast, just one month before Reagan took office from President Jimmy Carter, the prime rate hit an all-time high of 21.5%, dropping to "only" 20.5% the day he took office. The inflation rate Obama inherited was zero, whereas Reagan inherited an inflation rate of 13.5%. The economy under Jimmy Carter was so bad that a new term, "Misery Index", was created (an economic measure derived by adding the inflation rate to the unemployment rate). The price of gold, a bellwether reflecting economic stability, hit an all-time high in the last year of Carter's presidency, reaching $2328/ounce in 2011-inflation adjusted dollars. We could go on and on, but the point is that Ronald Reagan would have gladly traded the economy he inherited for the one Obama inherited. Granted, the economy Obama inherited was bad, but not the worst, and he asked us for it.
Over the next four years following his election, instead of blaming Carter for a long-term, moribund economy, he just got to work fixing it. He accepted the short term pain that came with wringing the inflation out of the money supply, and he accepted the deficits that were incurred as the cost of rebuilding the military that Carter had dismantled. He suffered through the harsh criticism of "Reaganomics", criticism showered on him by Democrats, the media, and even some members of his own party. As a result, the money supply stabilized, interest rates plummeted, unemployment rates plummeted, and the longest period of economic prosperity and expansion in history was launched. And he did all of this while having to deal with a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, which controls the budget process.
By contrast, Obama began his first term with a supermajority in both the House and Senate, and he was literally able to pass anything he wanted without compromising to get a single Republican vote. Indeed, Obama pushed through a nearly $1 TRILLION stimulus bill, and later ObamaCare, without a single Republican vote. Yet even today he still blames his failures on an economy he "inherited" from Bush and Republican obstructionism. Of course, he can't explain how Republican obstructionism hindered him when he had full control of all the levers of government power, but we are not supposed to question that. It makes one wonder why he even wants a second term. After all, if he is still complaining about the economy he inherited from Bush four years later, think of how much he'll complain about the economy he inherits this time!
As I've watched the debates, commercials, and news coverage of this campaign season, the one thing that really strikes me is how little Obama campaigns on the argument that the achievements of his first term warrant a second term. He rarely touts the "successes" of the stimulus bill or ObamaCare, and only provides nebulous references to "restoring America's standing" around the world.
When Reagan ran for a second term, he did so riding a wave of successes both domestic and foreign. The enthusiastic, positive campaign was encapsulated in the now-famous "Morning in America" commercial:
"It's morning again in America. Today more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country's history. With interest rates at about half the record highs of 1980, nearly 2,000 families today will buy new homes, more than at any time in the past four years. This afternoon 6,500 young men and women will be married, and with inflation at less than half of what it was just four years ago, they can look forward with confidence to the future. It's morning again in America, and under the leadership of President Reagan, our country is prouder and stronger and better. Why would we ever want to return to where we were less than four short years ago?"
And herein lies the problem for Obama…things have only gotten worse over the last four years. He campaigned (rightly) attacking the Bush deficit spending, calling them immoral and unpatriotic. He then turned around and posted four straight years of deficits triple or quadruple what the highest Bush deficits were. He inherited a 7.8% unemployment rate, passed the "stimulus" bill, and promptly saw unemployment spike to over 10%, average 9.2% over his presidency, stay above 8% for 43 straight months, and only last month drop back to the same level as the day he took office. Unfortunately, even that achievement requires an asterisk, since that 7.8% represents a number which did not include the unemployment numbers for California, the nation's most populous state, and ignores the fact that a half million Americans simply gave up hope of finding employment in the last two months alone, and are therefore not counted in the unemployment rate. We also face gas prices double what they were the day he took office, and skyrocketing electricity prices (to be fair, he told us in 2008 that he would try to bankrupt the coal industry, and that his policies would "necessarily" cause electricity prices to "skyrocket").
In Reagan's second term we saw the dividends of his military build-up, as the Soviet Union began its final death throes. Obama, on the other hand, is seeing his foreign policy unravel, with the Middle East literally in flames, Iran close to acquiring a nuclear bomb, terrorist organizations elected to lead many Muslim countries, a dead ambassador and burning U.S. embassies. The Fast and Furious scandal, where the Obama administration sold assault weapons to Mexican drug cartels, which were used to kill American law enforcement and hundreds of Mexicans, has been swept under the rug but not forgotten. America faces a massive debt crisis, our national debt having increased by 50% in just three years under Obama, and we are facing another credit downgrade. We have enslaved our children and grandchildren with the debt burden we've placed on them.
And this, my friends, is why Obama and Biden can't run on their record. It is why they have not outlined an agenda for the next four years other than giving us more spending, more debt, more class and race warfare, and more "flexibility" to allow our enemies to dictate American policy. It is why they have used scare tactics, lies, and the fear that women all across America will have to buy their own birth control. Oh, the horror!
By contrast, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan offer a plan to back us away from the fiscal cliff, to address our entitlement-driven debt crisis, to restore American leadership around the world, and to get our economy roaring again. I don't agree with all of his policies, but one thing I do know is that, if Romney is elected, we will once again have a problem solver, not a problem creator, in the White House. We will have a man of great personal integrity and charity, and one who does not want to "fundamentally transform" America, but to restore it.


text: Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Job in Rio de Janeiro Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today! Job Discussion Forums"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Job in Rio de Janeiro Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Latin America Forum View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message julianaSouzaJoined: 16 Jan 2012Posts: 1 Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:51 pm Post subject: Job in Rio de Janeiro Hi, Im an English teacher. I Work for IDIOMASTER in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They are looking for new English teachers. IDIOMASTER Rua Hilário de Gouveia, 66 / 309 Copacabana Rio de Janeiro, RJ CEP: 22040-020 Tel: 0055 21 3686-3333 / 0055 21 2547-7286 E-mail: [email protected] Website: HTTP://www.idiomaster.com.br Back to top NWBenJoined: 15 Nov 2009Posts: 13Location: Playa del Carmen, Mexico Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:18 am Post subject: Right now or for a term that starts later? If you have more info, I'm sure it would be appreciated. Went to the website and verified that my poor Spanish doesn't help me at all reading Portuguese. Back to top LandonJoined: 26 Sep 2011Posts: 90 Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 4:02 pm Post subject: Eu falo portugues. What would you like to know from the site? There is not much info there. Looks like they are just asking you to fill out the form with your credentials and they will get back to you. It doesn't even say they are hiring for anything specific. Back to top NWBenJoined: 15 Nov 2009Posts: 13Location: Playa del Carmen, Mexico Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:45 am Post subject: Thanks! I appreciate the translation offer. But if you say it's not very explicit, that's all I needed to know. I probably shouldn't have commented, since I'm mostly trolling the S America forums to try and figure out which country fits my needs, which are 1- get a widely accept TEFL certification that I could use in Europe as well as S America, 2- get experience teaching, 3- take classes in the local language, 4- enjoy myself. A very distant 5- earn, or at least not lose much, money doing it. Since I have a job in the US I have to get back to by June 23rd I may just end up finding a volunteer position. Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Latin America Forum All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Where to Begin----------------General DiscussionNewbie ForumCurrent Events ForumTechnology ForumOnline Teaching Forum Africa Forums----------------General Africa Forum Asia Forums----------------CambodiaChina (Job-related Posts Only)China (Off-Topic)Hong KongIndiaIndonesiaJapanMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeTaiwanThailandGeneral Asia ForumVietnam Caribbean Forums----------------General Caribbean Forum Europe Forums----------------Czech RepublicFranceGermanyGreeceItalyMacedonia and the BalkansPolandRomaniaRussia & C.I.S.SpainTurkeyUkraineUnited KingdomGeneral Europe Forum Latin America Forums----------------ArgentinaBrazilChileColombiaCosta RicaMexicoMexico (off-topic)PeruGeneral Latin America Forum The Middle East Forums----------------BahrainEgyptIsraelKuwaitOmanQatarSaudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesGeneral Middle East Forum North America Forums----------------General North America Forum Oceania----------------Australia/New Zealand You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved. Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group Teaching Jobs in China


text:
Coker shot a team total of 302, 18 over par for the first day. Leading the Cobras is freshman Jimmy Gillam, with a first round one over par 72, tying him for 24th place. Steve Frisch is next after firing a two over 73, leaving him in a tie for 33rd position, while Chris Marsh shot a 76, followed by Keith Wallace with a 81. Rounding out the Coker five was Stephen Thomson with a first round 84.
Coker will tee off for the final round of play today with tee times starting at 8:00 a.m. Fans can follow all the action live on the internet with live scoring through www.golfstat.com.


text:
|Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-N900S - Black
|The Premiere Discount Merchandise Superstore - We Wholesale, Retail & Drop Ship
Item: Samsung - Galaxy Note 3 SM-N900S - Black
Carrier: GSM-UNLOCKED
(Stock photo above, actual item might have a different color)
|Item Condition
|Category: PRE-OWNED
Functional Condition: FULLY FUNCTIONAL - Unit is fully functional and works like a new device does.
Cosmetic Condition: -
Accessories: Order comes with the phone, battery, and battery cover. SIM card and other accessories, unless mentioned otherwise, are not included.
|Item Note: Item is in near mint, almost like new condition! INTERNATIONAL MODEL. PHONE IS UNLOCKED AND CAN MAKE CALLS BUT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RECEIVE DATA WITH US CARRIERS'
|Quality Assurance
|Our Quality Assurance qualifies the following items for each phone:
IMEI/ESN Check
Receiving Signals
Charge (charge time may vary)
Key Pad
Display Good, No Image Burn
Sound Volume Control
Sound Quality
Mechanical Soundness
911/GPS Compatibility for activation
|Home| My digiCircle| FAQ| Careers| About Us| Contact Us
| Copyright © 2006 digiCircle.com. All rights reserved


text:
I would like to hire a Twitter Expert
Бюджет $10-30 USD
11 фрилансеров(-а) в среднем готовы выполнить эту работу за $23
Hi ! I m social media marketing specialist !!! Dear Sir, why will you choose me? Remember these traits! Qualitative work, Honesty and Better Communication are available here which is what you need. I can provide good q Больше
Hii,I read your project details carefully. I can do your work perfectly I am Social Media Marketing expert.I am doing all kind of Social Media Optimization/social media marketing project. Specially I have more experien Больше
Hello sir, I am expert in All type social media Marketing, Twitter promote, follower, tweet, retweet, Unlimited non drop twitter follower available here. ready to start work, waiting your reply Thanks bestits Больше
Dear sir I am read your project description.I will provide real service. I will provide real fans and followers must be real active. I am not a new here my previous account was closed name was mabdt20 with 350+ Больше
This is Luchi Khatun. - Data entry & social media expert. I am new to this portal, but not new in my profession. Please inform me your budget and time frame. I am highly interested for this project Thanks
Hi, Your Job post caught my attention. I have read your job description very carefully and interested to this job. Because I have Proper experience about Twitter marketing( Profile Maintenance, Increase 250+ Real fol Больше
Hi, We are a digital media team of experts with years of experience in digital marketing and having worked with multiple top international digital marketing agencies. We would like to take on this project and help Больше


text:
Movies about baking
I'm putting together a little food film festival in February (I know, alliteration is everything). I have three films already - Greenhorns, Our Daily Bread and Jiro Dreams of Sushi but am short of a decent film about baking. I've googled it and had a quick scan of the search results here but haven't quite found what I'm after... After reading a few posts here I have The Baker and A Wedding For Bella as standbys, particularly the last one which might be good for the valentines slot, but it's still not about the bread, and artisinal baking that I'm after. It would be great if Kevin Kossowan could do a feature but we may have to wait on that... Anybody know any good features or docs that might fit, educate and enthuse?


text:
Jimquisition: Objectification And... Men?
Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . . . 24 NEXT
As a girl gamer, I just know I ADORE strong female characters like the new Lara, Jade from Beyond Good & Evil, Faith from Mirror's Edge, Alice from American McGee's Alice games, Aya Brea from Parasite Eve 1 (let's not talk about 3rd Birthday), Samus from Metroid Prime (let's not talk about Other M), Alexandra Rovias from Eternal Darkness, Jen from Primal, Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark, Heather from Silent Hill 3, Jill/Claire/Rebecca from the original Resident Evil games, Chell from Portal, and my strong female avatars in Mass Effect/Dragon Age/Jade Empire and others games, along with strong female supporting characters like Trip from Enslaved, Alyx from Half-Life 2, Aika from Skies of Arcadia, Elika from Prince of Persia, and others.
But for every good example, there's a huge mountain of vapid, large-breasted bimbos being paraded about as useless damsels in distress, shallow eye-candy, and valuable trophies to earn as a reward. And slowly but surely, I've watched many of the heroines I DID admire being reduced and diminished.
I'm sitting here looking at what they've done to heroines like Samus and Jill Valentine and Aya Brea and I'm not smiling or happy to see them anymore. I see the gaming industry forgetting about characters like Joanna Dark and Vanessa Scheider and Cate Archer and Sonia Belmont and Nariko and .
I'm ready to play a game that turns this around. I want to play as Alice Wake trying to find her husband, Alan. I want to play as Jill rescuing Chris (like what happened in the original game if you picked her). I want to play as Anya Stroud in THE lead role in a Gears of War game. I want to play a Halo game with a female lead. I want to play a Mario game starring Daisy (who, unlike Peach, doesn't have powers based on raging hormonal emotions). I want to play a Metal Gear Game starring Meryl or The Boss. I want to play as the Princess of Persia or the Goddess of War. I want to play as Elle from Dead Space. I want to play as Elena or Chloe in Uncharted. I'm ready for all that.
But sadly it seems nobody else is ready. It's still a guys industry with guy games with guy leads, and if I want a game with a female focus, I'd better pick up Cooking Mama or Style Trendsetters, because no girl wants to play as an empowered, clever, talented woman... those games NEVER sell anyway... right?
I think this ties in with that whole perfect pasta sauce episode. Nobody knows what everybody wants, so the industry defaults to the 80s when it comes to gaming.
All valid points except one: Females are roughly 50% of gamers? If we're talking about core gamers (which I assume we are since the subject matter isn't facebook games and such), then no. I recently conducted a research for my bachelor's degree and saw what academic research has to say about that. I saw statistics from peer-reviewed academic articles as well as statistics I collected myself (most of which has been from from this forum - Thanks by the way), and I have to conclude that it's not true. The majority of core gamers are male. The industry knows it and this is why so many AAA games are targeted towards males.
I seriously doubt that the amount of women playing these "sexist" games is in a 1:1 ratio to dudes.
I may be wrong on this but I remember reading somewhere that the majority of female gamers play games on handhelds/mobile phones. I haven't really seen "sexist" stuff on those platforms.
I object that remark
I object that remark
True,the two do have a lot in common, the typical hero really i'd say equally damaging but as Jim pointed out for different reasons, lets be honest the typical hero is a psychopath. And that's a dangerous quality.
As a bisexual male who has a problem with the current focus, or hype as I see it, on gender issues in gaming, I disagree on the direction this video took.
I very much feel that when I'm forced to play a male character that I don't sympathize with, such as Booker Dewitt from Bioshock Infinite, I'm shoved into a typical male role.
In other words Jim, the argument isn't about men getting sexually objectified as you started off the video with, though I honestly believe they are, it's about objectification in general. I think your video is biased and that you should take a more open approach to the subject.
At this point a feminist would point out that it's the patriarchy and social preconceptions that also hurt men.
Here's the deal though, it's not a big thing for me. Sure, I don't feel right playing these male superhuman protagonists, but I don't go make a fuss about it. But even worse, if I did feel bad about it, no one would take me seriously, because I'm a man and I should suck it up.
The main reason that I'm against the current wave of hatred towards objectification of women in gaming, is not because I don't think it doesn't matter, it's not because I feel men are getting left behind in the process and it's definitely not because of any misogynistic agenda.
It's because it's a bunch of pissy whine that has no intention of treating women with respect or to give them a chance to be "equal". It honestly is a load of horrible CP bullshit that's thrown through every single media outlet there is in the gaming community, who's automatically siding not with women, but the idea that they need to be protected and have the male gaming community as a whole, change.
I find it disgusting and an assbackwards way of doing things.
Progress is made through adversity and by people who lead by example. Progress is not made by whining, complaining, bitching or sitting on a high horse claiming that everyone who doesn't side with women and give them what they want(or rather what pathetic excuses of white knighters want) while accusing everyone else of being misogynistic, intolerant, bigoted or whatever else overused words there is for people who barely even exist in the western world.
That's the issue in a nutshell. The rest is just baseless, spineless, pointless pandering that gets us nowhere, apart from shaming men in general(which no one gives two fucks about).
From the capitalist angle one of the key questions developers will ask is:
If we don't sexualise women are enough women going to buy it to make up for the men who didn't buy it for the sexualisation?
Taken more seriously by who, developers or the media? Intertwining storytelling and gameplay together is aproximately a billion times harder than simply throwing in a female protagonist, I can tell you that right now.
A realistic, complex female protagonist in a fantasy videogame is nothing more than a gender-swapped male protagonist. I mean do you seriously think there was anything stopping the protagonists of Mirror's Edge, Metroid, etc being males? Or there was anything stopping the protagonists of Dead Space, Assassin's Creed or Uncharted being females? OF COURSE not, it's fantasy and genders are as freely swappable as they were through the Mass Effect universe with characters spouting the same lines (albeit different voice actors) and being represented by a series of differently-shaped pixels.
A clever person once invented a special hair shampoo that makes it shiner/healthier and to their amazement they noticed that women were buying their product 50x more than men. You know what they did? Advertised the shit out of that product for women from that point on and plastered their faces on almost every hair product advertisement you see on TV, magazines, etc.
See what I'm getting at? The MARKET speaks, not bickering between people like you or me (or Jim) in internet forums.
The hysterical truth about this is the fact that anyone who assumes that is even less mature than the typical gamer and is therefore the least of our concerns.
Yeah, and that sounds sexist, meaning that if you read it, it almost sounds like you are telling that's how a game with a female character should be, and that it's a pity there isn't one. As I said, I know that's not what you meant, but it's kind of hilarious in all the wrong ways. XD XD XD
I'm not sure they are damaging for reasons that are all that different. They are both dmaging to the medium because they are shitty story telling. They are both damaging to the culture because they set up unrealistic expectations and reinforce bad sterotyped gender roles. They are both damaging to the consumer because they restrict what will and will not be approved, limiting our exposure to new ideas and refreshing tropes.
Now I exist in a strange palce in this topic because I can actually enjoy games that objectify and idealize men and women, but also want to see more from the meduim that doesn't do eitehr of those two things. I'd be flat out lying to say I don't enjoy the asthetic used for many female game characters. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't enjoy acting like a psychopath in some games. So I think there is a place for those sorts of objectification/idealization tropes in all media. I also think we should push to include more games that don't stand solely on those things.
I love your smarmy ass LOL but the beginning was to over the top when you piled it on, but hay what ever.
Reduced to a thing and a possession,
Look he's some muscle bound freak with a gun... that's all he is (most of the time.) why is this done in gaming?
they went cookie cutter and put in the base minimal effort to make what they thought would make their fan base happy.
Like say.. T and A. Is doing the base minimal something worth harping on? Sure,
oh and thanks for keeping the back ground music ^^
Have you ever played Second Life? EVE Online? Any game with a character creator? Have you seen what Avatars most women create for themselves when given the opportunity? It makes Dead or Alive look modest and reasonable. It's hypocrisy to hold one gender to one standard, and the other to another, lower standard that effectively voids all their responsibility, which of course is the agenda of radical feminism. Women idolize beauty and sex appeal just as much as men idolize strength and bravery, if you made Lara Croft or Samus Aran a plain, slightly overweight mother of three, you would appeal only to the very vocal radical feminist minority, not the vast majority of female gamers, a few of which I know personally, who are equally tired of being singled out and pandered to. In the same sense I wouldn't like Halo as much if Master Chief was an overweight, balding 40 year old, because videogames are fantasy, they're escapism.
Personally I won't have my hobby gutted by radicals, apologists and political correctness, if that makes me a woman-hating sexist pig, I'll wear that label on a badge with pride.
Keep your politics out of my fucking hobbies.
Nope he's claiming that guys are doing what they've always done. The only difference is that women are now complaining about it, even though they could just ignore the games they don't like.
Just because you don't like something doesn't make it wrong. Part of being a grown up is accepting that other people like different things.
and wait a min.... half the fan base is women?
Come now jim did you pull that out of your ass?
Now see, if THIS was the normal, if THIS was the status quo, if THIS is the kind of stuff we got regularly, then we wouldn't have to keep bringing up this kind of topic. Butttttt we still get this:
This. Is A BAD THING.
Hell not even JUST the gender issues; it's just shitty storytelling and game/movie/etc. making in general from dumb lazy hacks being paid obscene amount of money to feed the audience bullshit. I mean if ANYTHING else, just raise your fucking standards on what you find to be acceptable entertainment material that you're going to spend your time and money on.
Or your parents' allowance, since according to the entertainment industry white teenage boys are the only kind of people that exist in the world.
The following response is towards the "fine gentlemen" that believe they are being objectified just as badly as women are in video games, comic books, etc...
I can never fully understand the level of self-delusion that some people have to truly believe that males are treated like sex symbols or objects of desire on the same level as women. I hate to break it to you, but its not the same!
And don't give me the B.S. that topics like these fall under the "beating a dead horse" category. Regardless of what Monxeroth might have to say about it, these topics keeping coming up is because they are still a problem within the games industry and in other forms of media. I don't care how big of a blanket you've got on hand, using it to hide the elephant in the living room does not make it go away. These are serious problems that need to be addressed and resolved with urgency. It's a problem that neither side cannot ignore forever.
What Jim did today, and what he does every week on the Jimquisition, is taking the first step in solving a problem... and that is admitting there is a problem.
The majority of female characters in games are not properly portrayed in video games.
Is the gaming audience really 50% women? Where does that figure come from? I seriously, seriously doubt that.
Part of being grown up is being aloud to like wrong things.
Or it could've been done for marketing. It could've been done to simulate a sexual fantasy thus reflecting what they would want and not necessarily how they see the world, and of course there's times when some are objectified and others aren't.
So you're really going to compare sexy women with what looks like black face? What's sexist about xtreme beach volleyball? How is it a negative portrayal of women?
Some people get offended at things and the developers keep them in anyway, not as a personal insult but because for one reason or another they don't think they're bad enough to remove. Was GTA insulting the groups that wanted cop/prostitute killing out of the game? Was Mass Effect insulting Fox News by leaving in the sex scenes?
That is your interpretation it doesn't make it the correct one.
Funny you mention Soul Calibur because that has men with abs and outfits clearly meant to appeal to women too. And it has women who aren't in sexy outfits. Like Hilde. Kind of goes against your whole theory apart that they're portraying all women like that.
So the problem isn't those games, it's a lack of games that do the opposite.
and yes killing machines are possessions.
You mean to tell me if you weren't a super villian you wouldn't wanna posses Kronos?
There suppose to be delusional, nerdy.. retarded responses. DUH.
Thanks Jim. I knew that argument was complete BS, but I was never quite sure how to articulate exactly "why" to myself.
The hyper idealized characters, male or female, are just plain boring to me anyhow. A character has to have some faults, physical or mental, in order to really feel like a human being.
Jim seriously talked about no personality..... LOL (No that's not a jab at him)
has he played as some of the main male leads? Some have less personality than fucking RObo cop
LMFAO that made my monday thank you Mr Sterling.
I would play that. I'd play its brains out.
Excuse me for having problems with harmful unhealthy bullshit and actually having an opinion on it. Ya know, that I can actually ARTICULATE on. THAT'S part of "growing up" if you wanna be annoying about it; having conviction in what you believe in.
Or should I be like you and go stick my head in the sand, ignoring problems I see and wish to point out and just live my life as a mindless wishy-washy empty vessel that just accepts anything and everything because "Herp derp it exists and SOMEONE out there likes it so that means it must not be bad herp derp"?
And none of this shit is "different" anyways. Like I was mentioning earlier; it's always the same regurgitated in a new coat of paint crap that keeps getting resold over and over again to people that don't like having standards for anything. It's stagnant progressive crap coming from lazy greedy individuals that want to do nothing but swindle you out of the cash in your pocket.
You know why homosexuality is starting to become accepted in Western society more and more? It's not because gay, lesbian and bisexual people bitched and moaned, and called people homophobes, it's because they led by example and showed people that there is no difference between love between two people of the opposite sex and the same sex beyond the physical. It was done by people determined to show that there was nothing wrong with them, and by being honest and open with themselves.
The suffragettes didn't bitch and moan that the patriarchy was keeping them down, while accusing men of being the problem. They got up, stood up for themselves and actively worked to make a difference. They showed that they were not willing to be treated like second class citizens and worked to improve their lot.
Sitting on forums such as these and complaining isn't helping anybody. It's not raising awareness, and it's not making people change their mind. It's making people roll their eyes that people are acting as though fictional boobs in games are on par with unequal pay in the workplace. That people live in a society where their gender cannot be discriminated against by law are victims because a group of people out to make money are trying to appeal to those who are most likely to give it. That they think they have the right to whatever entertainment that they want, just because they want it.
Discussions like these are like those plastic wristbands people wear to support anti-bullying or whatever. All they do is make people think they are actually contributing to fixing a problem, rather than actually doing something about it. They can then sit back, feeling proud to be against sexism, or perceived sexism while having done absolutely nothing to sort it out.
Don't get me wrong, people are right to want whatever they want, and I completely support the idea that more and better female protagonists in games can only be a good thing. But I am not deluded in thinking that I am entitled to it, nor am I under the belief that I have the right to tell others what they should spend their time and money making, just because it doesn't fit my particular desires when it comes to gaming.
Tell us jim,
Are you asking for ugly women in anti hero roles for the sense of diversity?
Sounds neat. I'd be curious about the game.. question is would i rent it let alone buy it?
I wanna give that question to everyone at the forum honestly.
I get that a lot here on the escapist :P
settle down, take a pill. Breath.
Sides who cares what they day dream about? you act like a bunch of gamers are gonna play a game and start dieting and working out to reach such a peak.
Thank you Jim for setting the record straight as to which of our shallow, one-sided characters are objectified and which are not. God bless. I also hate that smug attitude of yours, keep up the good work.
No matter how objectified a women is in a game, no matter how much we argue about it, it has never stopped a game from being released. If anybody says that, they are making an excuse. Argue away.
I don't understand how a "flame war" differs from a heated debate, and I don't see whats wrong with it, if you have something to say, just say it.
In all the threads I've seen recently on this subject, nobody even cares that much to get upset about it. We all just like to argue with other random internet people. It's why we're here. It's fun, join us.
In the time it took me to read page 6 of this thread(I'm a bit slow, a few minutes maybe?), 16 more people posted comments. So clearly Jim, this topic is dead and you should stop bringing it up.
Quit being disingenuous. Jim didn't criticize games that have idealized male protagonists or its audiences. He was criticizing those who try to equate objectification and idealization.
Starting off by presuming that an argument comes from self delusion isn't going to change hearts. Some arguments do, in fact, stem from delusion, but I tihnk one should consider that there may be an argument here that does not.
This whole argument was purely about sex or sexual attraction, but about objectification, sexual or otherwise. Also, simply claiming, "...it's not the same," also doesn't provide any insight.
What is a 'proper' portryal of a female character in a game? What is the 'proper' portryal of a man? Is a sexualized female body improper? What about a sexualized male one? Is a female character without agency improper? What about a psycopathic male who can only solve problems by shooting it with bigger guns? What about a 'nerdy' male scientist who also has no agency whatsoever and needs the thick-necked meat-head with guns-a-blazin' to save him too? Is he objectified because of his lack of agency?
I'd argue that there is no proper way to write a character. I would argue that there is much greater room in gaming and other mediums to expand to other tropes and characterizations.
'The argument here' in my case was the two posts I quoted. Wasnt realy trying to argue for anything beyond that.
Though I suppose if we do go on about a 'supply and demand' argument, I should realy start with saying that AAA games dont 'just exist'. The moon 'just exists'. AAA games are designed, reviewed, revised, and funded according to market demand, so yeah, they are 'supplying' what people are 'demanding'. Like 'supply and demand'.
Or at least they should be, but arnt. Which is probabaly what the argument we should be having with this whole gender issue. First off, shooters are not just for 13 year old boys. Older men play em, girls play em, but especialy the latter have to deal with the constant gratingly obvious 13-year-old-boy fantasy drivel which realy is not an essential component of ANY genre of gaming.
There is a significant demand for better narrative in general, and protagonists/plots a female player can identify with specificaly, which is not being supplied. The fact that there arnt so many female Gears of War players is not a cause, its an effect of this decrepancy.
Yeah, I've complained a lot on that issue this year. Lara Croft is everything a feminist might like in a character (smart, strong, independent, confident), but she can serve as a pin-up so that somehow doesn't count. This thread's already delved into how sexiness of certain Mass Effect Characters somehow negates what they otherwise are. It isn't just offensive, it's rather hypocritical how the side that doesn't like being judged by their appearance can somehow reduce attractive female characters to just their T&A factor. I've actually seen an ironic turnaround with this. I read columns by a female gamer (Liana Kerzner) that has commented, even recently, how difficult to be taken seriously as a writer it is if you also cosplay Ivy Valentine by your own choice.
Of course I think some of the dismantling of female characters this way is to avoid acknowledging that the "boys club" industry has and still does try to appeal to them however imperfectly, and that this untapped demographic isn't showing up for it. They have to write off these attempts because if they exist, then it isn't the industries' fault for what it's become, it's their for not supporting games that even leaned in the direction they wanted the industry to take. The industry won't change for internet whining so much as sales, so we might need to hold our nose and buy multiple copies of Remember Me. (and I truly dread this discussion if that game flops)
|Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . . . 24 NEXT


text:
I am all for improvements in condom technology. A condom that's easier to put on, provides more pleasure, and avoids the potential allergens in latex? Hey, great idea! And who doesn't like the idea of a condom that's more flexible and reduces breakage? In fact, everything about the prototype "Origami Condom" sounds absolutely fantastic ... until you see it in action.
That's when things get a little, um, disturbing. Because this silicone, fluid-lined condom that's "supposed to mimic the vaginal environment" is SERIOUSLY weird looking, and you can't help but wonder if the designers gave any consideration to whether or not women would appreciate this fancy new approach to safe sex.
Ladies, you'll want to see this enthralling Origami Condom demonstration, and decide for yourself if you'd be willing to experience it in person.
Here's a video of the Origami Condom being compared to a regular condom. Now, I'm not sure how I'd grade this video -- is it safe for work if it doesn't technically show a penis? -- but we should probably err on the side of caution: this clip involves dildos, rubbers, and a pair of disembodied hands doing a lot of Demonstrative Stroking. In other words, maybe don't hit play if the kids or your boss are around:
Sooooo, is it just me, or all those ridges a little terrifying? I feel like being on the receiving end, so to speak, would be really uncomfortable. And there would be weird noises. And it sort of looks like it might peel off altogether and be left behind after the party's over.
Plus, I know existing condoms are far from perfect, but the bumbling way the guy puts on the regular one is just tragic. Like, dude, is this seriously your at-home method? I feel sorry for his partner, is all I'm saying. It reminds me of those As Seen On TV people where they can't do anything right:
Anyway, it may be that the Origami Condom works better as a solo sex toy, since all those ridges and the fluid lining are meant to "stimulate sex without a condom for a man." In other words, it's strong enough for a man ... but mayyyyybe not exactly made for a woman.
What do you think of the Origami Condom? Would you give it a try?
Image via Origami Condom