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Backdoor.Neggpy Removal Techniques
Backdoor.Neggpy is a heuristic detection from several security vendors. It is a nasty Trojan malware that has been marked as a lethal threat for all Windows computers. It is able to attack any version of Windows OS without permission. Once inside your machine, this dubious threat can start a series on notorious and malevolent activities on your machine. It will start several harassing and harmful process into your system background that will slow down your computer. This perilous virus infection is mostly getting spread through bundled free third party programs, spam emails, suspicious websites, shareware and other tricks. Backdoor.Neggpy virus is really a dangerous threat for your computer which can do major damage if not get removed on time.
This notorious computer malware can also disable your system security to avoid its removal. Backdoor.Neggpy virus can also block your Task Manager and Control Panel. This perilous threat can also inject its malign codes to the registry editor of your computer to get started automatically on your system. Those malign registry keys can also help this virus in getting back to your system after removal. What is more harmful, it can also bring similar threats, viruses, spyware and malware on your system without your knowledge. Backdoor.Neggpy virus can also steal your personal and secret information including your banking details and credit card information. It can also create backdoor on your system to allow hackers to access your system remotely. So it is very important to delete Backdoor.Neggpy virus completely from your system as soon as possible.
Remove Backdoor.Neggpy Virus From Windows PC
Method 1 – Automatically Remove Backdoor.Neggpy Easily Using SpyHunter Malware Scanner (Recommended Method).
Method 2 – Manually Remove Backdoor.Neggpy Virus From Your PC (Time Taking and Only For Computer Geeks).
Method 1 – Remove Backdoor.Neggpy Virus Automatically With SpyHunter
SpyHunter is a leading malware removal program. It is designed to give ultimate protection from harmful threats and malware in real time. This powerful anti-malware software is very light on your computer and works really fast. This unique and fast malware removal tool is able to find and delete all types of hidden threats, rootkits, spyware, ransomware, Trojan, keylogger, worms and many others. This advanced and powerful malware scanner can easily detect viruses that your regular anti-virus fails to detect. It is a very strong and powerful solution to all type of computer threats.
In case if you are not able to remove Backdoor.Neggpy virus completely, you can also ask for the custom fix. SpyHunter tech support team is always ready to help you in removing malware from your system. It is one of the best anti-malware tool available in market today. It is very powerful, quick and safe application. SpyHunter Malware Scanner comes with some very advanced and effective features. It is capable to detect and remove all kinds of computer viruses quite easily from your PC. Moreover, it is a very easy to use utility and hence with SpyHunter users can easily remove Backdoor.Neggpy virus without any kind of essential technical expertise.
Steps To Remove Backdoor.Neggpy Virus With SpyHunter
- Download SpyHunter by clicking below Download Button.
- Double click on the installer file and install this utility in your PC.
- Click on Start Scan button to detect Backdoor.Neggpy virus.
- Finally, click on Fix Threats Button to remove Backdoor.Neggpy completely from your PC.
Note – The free version of SpyHunter will scan your system for free and will show you the list of all potentially harmful threat available in your PC. However, in order to remove these threat completely from your system you will need to purchase the full version of Spyhunter Malware Removal Tool.
Method 2 – Remove Backdoor.Neggpy Manually
Well, before starting the removal process users must know that manual option is quite tricky and time consuming, hence users will need essential technical expertise in order to remove Backdoor.Neggpy completely with manual method. Moreover any kind of mistake or technical complication will land the users in even worst circumstances and can make your system completely unusable. However, if you have good technical skills then follow the bellow methods carefully in order to get rid of Backdoor.Neggpy manually from your Windows PC.
Part 1 – Start Your Computer in Safe Mode With Networking
Part 2 – Stop Backdoor.Neggpy Related Process From Task Manager
Part 3 – Remove Backdoor.Neggpy From Control Panel
Part 4 – Remove Backdoor.Neggpy From Browser
Part 5 – Remove Backdoor.Neggpy From Registry Editor
Optional : Reset Your Browser Settings
Part 1 – Start Your Computer in Safe Mode With Networking
- Click on "Start" menu and select "Restart" button.
- Keep pressing "F8 button" when your PC start booting.
- You will see "Advance boot menu" on your computer screen.
- Chose "Safe Mode With Networking" Option and press Enter button.
- Click on "Start" menu, press "Shift key" and click on "Restart" button.
- Select "Troubleshoot" option from the screen.
- Now click on the "Advanced" Options.
- Choose the "Startup Settings" option.
- Select "Enable Safe Mode option" and click Restart button.
- Press "F5 button" to Enable "Safe Mode With Networking" option.
Part 2 – Stop Backdoor.Neggpy Related Process From Task Manager
- Press "ALT+Ctrl+Del" buttons simultaneously on your keyboard.
- Choose Windows Task manager option from screen.
- Select the malicious process and click on End Task button.
Part 3 – Remove Backdoor.Neggpy From Control Panel
- Go the Start menu on your computer and select Control Panel.
- Click on Add or Remove programs option.
- Find and remove unwanted program from your PC.
- Click the "Windows key" on your keyboard.
- Select Control Panel Option from start menu.
- Select Uninstall a programs option from the Programs menu.
- Finally select and remove unwanted program from your system.
- Press Win+R button to open Run Box on your computer.
- Type "control panel" in Run window and hit Enter button to open Control Panel
- Click Uninstall a program
- Right-click Backdoor.Neggpy and other unwanted programs and click Uninstall option to remove it completely.
- Press the start button and select Settings option.
- Choose system option there.
- Click on Apps and Features option.
- Find and remove unwanted program from your PC.
Part 4 – Remove Backdoor.Neggpy From Browser
From Google Chrome
- First of all launch up Google Chrome browser in your PC.
- Click on great icon from top right corner of your browser to open Chrome menu.
- Now click on the Tools option.
- Go to Extension and select all unwanted extension including Backdoor.Neggpy.
- Finally click on trash bin icon to remove Backdoor.Neggpy from Google Chrome.
From Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer browser in your PC.
- Press Alt+T buttons, or Click on Gear Icon from the right-top corner to open Tools.
- Now click on Manage Add-ons option.
- Select Toolbars and Extensions tab.
- Find Backdoor.Neggpy related add-ons and Click Disable.
- Click More information button.
- Finally click on Remove button.
From Mozilla Firefox
- Launch Mozilla Firefox browser in your PC.
- Click on the gear icon from top right corner to open browser menu.
- Select Add-ons. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.
- In the Add-ons Manager tab, choose the Extensions or Appearance panel.
- Select Backdoor.Neggpy add-on that you want to remove.
- Click the Remove button.
- Click Restart now if it pops up appear on your system screen.
From Microsoft Edge
Well, Microsoft Edge does not have extensions hence you will need to reset your browser homepage in order to remove Backdoor.Neggpy virus from your Edge browser.
- First of all open Microsoft Edge browser in your PC.
- Click on More (…) icon from top right corner and go to Settings.
- Now select A specific page or pages from under the Open option.
- Select Custom option and enter the URL of the page that you wish set as your browser homepage.
Part 5 – Remove Backdoor.Neggpy From Registry Editor
- Open Run window by pressing Win + R keys together.
- Type "regedit" and click OK
- Find and delete all related registry files of Backdoor.Neggpy.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\msmpeng.exe "Debugger" = 'svchost.exe'
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\msseces.exe "Debugger" = 'svchost.exe'
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "WarnOnHTTPSToHTTPRedirect" = '0′
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "WarnOnHTTPSToHTTPRedirect" = '0′
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore "DisableSR " = '1′
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\ekrn.exe "Debugger" = 'svchost.exe'
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\msascui.exe "Debugger" = 'svchost.exe'
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "3948550101?
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "xas"
Optional : Reset Your Browser Settings
Reset Google Chrome
- Open "Google Chrome", click on Chrome menu.
- Click on "Settings" option from drop down list.
- Go to search box and type RESET.
- Finally click the "Reset" button to complete the process.
Reset Mozilla Firefox
- Open "Mozilla Firefox", click on Firefox menu and on press Help option.
- Select "Troubleshooting Information" option.
- Click on "Refresh Firefox" button from top of page.
- Hit "Refresh Firefox" button when dialog box appear on your computer screen.
Reset Microsoft Edge
- Open your MS Edge browser, click on More (…) icon, and select Settings option.
- Now click on view advanced settings option.
- Press <Add new> option from "Search in the address bar with" option.
- Enter your favorite search engine url and press Add as default.
Reset Internet Explorer
- Open your Internet Explorer browser, click on "Tools" menu and select "Internet Option".
- Click on "Advance tab" and then hit the "Reset" button.
- Find "Delete Personal Settings" option and press "Reset" Button.
- Finally click on "Close" Button and restart your browser.
Friendly Tips Ignore Viruses – Things To Do After Removing Backdoor.Neggpy
To keep away from Backdoor.Neggpy coming back on your Computer system and to force close similar threats in future, you must follow these essential tips while using your PC:
- Always select the Custom Installation method when you are installing any software or program.
- Uncheck all hidden options and bunched program that you are unknowing of or don't know.
- Scan all your email attachments before you open them on your computing machine.
- Never download update from untrusted and unknown websites.
- Do not visit adult or porn website.
- Do not click on any misleading advertisements.
- Always scan USB drives before transferring or copying files.
- Scan your PC at regular intervals for hidden virus and malware.


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Intel® 22 nm Technology
Introducing the world's first 3D transistor ready for high-volume manufacturing
Introducing the world's first 3D transistor ready for high-volume manufacturing
Intel has deployed a fundamentally different technology for future microprocessor families: 3D transistors manufactured at 22 nm. These new transistors enable Intel to continue to relentlessly pursue Moore's Law and to ensure that the pace of technology advancement consumers expect can continue for years to come.
Previously, transistors, the core of microprocessors, were 2D (planar) devices. The Intel® 3D tri-gate transistor, and the ability to manufacture it in high volume, mark a dramatic change in the fundamental structure of the computer chip. Learn more about the history of transistors.
This also means Intel can continue to lead in powering products, from the world's fastest supercomputers to very small mobile handhelds.
Transistor size and structure are at the very center of delivering the benefits of Moore's Law to the end user. The smaller and more power efficient the transistor, the better. Intel continues to predictably shrink its manufacturing technology in a series of world firsts: 45 nm with high-k/metal gate in 2007; 32 nm in 2009; and now 22 nm with the world's first 3D transistor in a high volume logic process beginning in 2011.
With a smaller, 3D transistor, Intel can design even more powerful processors with incredible power efficiency. The new technology enables innovative microarchitectures, System on Chip (SoC) designs, and new products—from servers and PCs to smart phones, and innovative consumer products.
The Intel® 3D tri-gate transistor uses three gates wrapped around the silicon channel in a 3D structure, enabling an unprecedented combination of performance and energy efficiency. Intel designed the new transistor to provide unique ultra-low power benefits for use in handheld devices, like smart phones and tablets, while also delivering improved performance normally expected for high-end processors.
The new transistors are so impressively efficient at low voltages they allow the Intel® Atom™ processor design team to innovate new architectural approaches for 22 nm Intel® Atom™ microarchitecture. The new design specifically maximizes the benefit of the extremely low-power 3D tri-gate transistor technology. And, Intel's future SoC products based on the 22 nm 3D tri-gate transistors will hit sub 1 mW idle power—for incredibly low-power SoCs.
Introduced at the end of 2011, the 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor was the first high-volume chip to use 3D transistors.
As Intel continues its product leadership for servers, PCs, laptops, and handheld devices with 22 nm 3D transistor technology, consumers and businesses should expect faster computing and graphics, and longer battery life in a variety of sleek form factors.
The Intel® 3D tri-gate transistor, and the ability to manufacture it in high volume, mark a dramatic change in the fundamental structure of the computer chip. Learn more about the history of transistors.
Follow the computer chip making process using Intel® 22 nm technology with 3D transistors.
Listen as Gordon E. Moore shares the history, his predictions, and the...
Presentation: Covers the 14 nm vision, multi-year product journeys, and the new...Preview | DownloadView (2.5 MB)
The latest 14 nm manufacturing process technology delivers ultra-fast...
Review a presentation shared at IDF 2014, which explores the benefits of the...Preview | DownloadView (748 KB)
Intel's 22nm innovation ushers in new semiconductor technology and ensures the...Preview | DownloadView (221.6 KB)
Intel® architecture innovations are the foundation of Intel's business model...
White Paper: Describes the basic operation and function of platform...Preview | DownloadView (1.4 MB)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
There's an argentinian reporter who once said that Montevideo at night looks like Gotham City.
No, I've never been to La Paz, but I am sure it would be an interesting trip. They say it's very difficult to breath when you are at the Bolivian heights.
No, you can't see Buenos Aires from Montevideo but you can see it from Colonia.


text:
Volume 19 Issue 6 | June 23-29, 2006
Finding the perfect fit on Orchard St.
Downtown Express photo by Elisabeth Robert
Peggy Bergstein, co-owner of Orchard Corset Discount Center, fitting a woman.
By Ronda Kaysen
Ralph Bergstein looms large in his tiny, charmless shop on Orchard St. With thick, puffy hands and a wild, red beard, he hunches behind the narrow counter, rifling through the hundreds of hand labeled, rectangular boxes filled with endless brands of brassieres. When his wife calls out for a bra, he tosses one her way.
Our customers do not come in for the décor, he said one sweltering Sunday afternoon. They come for the uplift.
The Bergstein family has been fitting women for bras since they took over Orchard Corset Discount Center in 1968. Theshop opened at 157 Orchard St. in 1931 as strictly a corset shop owned by a Mr. Novack, but now it specializes in large sizes think 52-J maternity bras, bridal undergarments and corsets.
Bergstein, 55, has been designing the stores line of corsets for eight years his father taught him the trade and orders all the merchandise. Ralph, a religious Jew, does not touch women (he declined to shake this reporters hand) and leaves the fitting to his wife, Peggy, and his mother, Magda, a 78-year-old Holocaust survivor.
Peggy and Ralph declined to have their photos taken because they worried their children might be teased for their parents choice profession.
Peggy, a waify, humorless woman with heavily lidded eyes, has been the main fitter for 22 years, she said, and does not use measuring tape to fit her customers. Trained by her mother-in-law, who is now in semi-retirement, Peggy, 40, simply looks the customer over and sternly grips her bosom. Its an art, she said. You have to look at the whole body.
She estimates that 95 percent of women wear the wrong bra if not the wrong size, then at least the wrong shape. Walking down the street, she often spots women in bras that clearly do not fit properly. Im so tuned in, she said. Sometimes, I want to stop them and give them my card and tell them to come here.
Peggys biggest gripe: back fat, the folded skin created by a bra too tightly clasped. No one, not even your best friend, no one but me will tell you if you have back fat, she said.
Orchard Corsets prices are as unassuming as the shop. A young woman standing at the counter to pay for a strapless corset and a bra was stunned by the price. She paid a mere $57 for both. If I was at Bloomingdales, it would probably cost me $57 just for the bra, she said.
And here you get a fit you get everything, Ralph chimed in.
A good bra fitter is part fitter, part therapist. Once inside the stores utilitarian dressing room literally a sheet hung from a metal pole decorated with more of the telltale rectangular boxes customers confess their imperfections. People come in here and they think theyre telling me some secret they all think they have some deformity, Peggy shrugged. But theyre all perfect just the way they are.
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text:
Longitude Festival (Irish Latitude)
Latitude affiliate launched in Dublin this year. Line-up announced today... some clues to who'll be at Latitude 2013?
How many of them are liokely to do latitude?
Not Kraftwerk
T in The Park is the only UK festival appearance.
Looks good
will be interesting to see how its split over the three days.
- El_Goodo this'd this
It's the same weekend as Latitude
so I see your line of thought in the same artists booked for both festivals. However, the Reading and Leeds arrangement has the acts getting on the M25 and M1, so like a 4 hour tourbus ride. Getting from Dublin to the middle of nowhere in Suffolk isn't the easiest journey you want to be doing over night in between shows. Do-able I guess...
wouldn't surprise me if the friday and sunday night headliners swapped over and the saturday nights for each only played one of the festivals.
look at Ireland
they advertise ticket prices INCLUDING booking fee
Vampire Weekend and Phoenix
over Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Pchaw. Still, good line up, would have that in UK.
Let's just stop for a second to acknowledge
that 'Longitude' is the worst name for anything, ever.
They should have called it Latatude


text:
Hamptons Designer Showhouse 2011
It was my great delight to be involved in the 2011 Hamptons Showhouse, to benefit Southhampton Hospital. My work was in the foyer with Haus Interior, and I was charged with creating 25 panels of a chevron pattern in paint, to complement a glamorous version of a 1970's surf-lodge theme.
The foyer was two stories high, which at first seemed daunting but now I'm glad for the challenge, as I think we brought a bland space down to earth and into intimacy, and gave it character. Colors here are a palette of midnight blue and seashore-grays.
As you see, a flame stitch pattern was our motif, tempered with gentle driftwood, seashells and diaphanous works of art, and miraculously this also matched the work of those around us. As to the rest of the house, trend-spotters will continue to find pattern on pattern, "lacquered" walls, papered ceilings, painted wainscot, moss-green and orange, and the dramatic gesture. Stylists will enjoy what my acting teacher called "triplets and clumps;" or rock on paper on book on tchotchka on cushion on chair. I don't know how they make it look so easy.
• Hamptons Showhouse
• Haus Interior
Images: 1. Michael Rodenbush 2 - 12. Mark Chamberlain


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Agent Orange and Cancer
About 3 million Americans served in the armed forces in Vietnam and nearby areas during the 1960s and early 1970s, the time of the Vietnam War. During that time, the military used large amounts of mixtures known as defoliants, which are chemicals that cause the leaves to fall off plants. One of these defoliants was Agent Orange, and some troops (as well as civilians) were exposed to it. Many years later, questions remain about the lasting health effects of those exposures, including increases in cancer risk.
This article is a brief overview of the link between Agent Orange and cancer. This is not a complete review of all evidence – it is meant to be a brief summary. It also includes some information on benefits for which Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange may be eligible.
Some background on Agent Orange
During the Vietnam War, US military forces sprayed millions of gallons of herbicides (plant-killing chemicals) on lands in Vietnam, Laos, and other nearby areas to remove forest cover, destroy crops, and clear vegetation from the perimeters of US bases. This effort, known as Operation Ranch Hand, lasted from 1962 to 1971.
Different mixes of herbicides were used, but most were mixtures of 2 chemicals that were phenoxy herbicides:
- 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)
- 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T)
Each mixture was shipped in a chemical drum marked with an identifying colored stripe. The most widely used mixture contained equal parts 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T. Because this herbicide came in drums with orange stripes, it was called Agent Orange. Today, many people use the term "Agent Orange" to refer to all the phenoxy herbicides sprayed at the time. (Other types of herbicides were also used, including cacodylic acid and picloram.)
The 2,4,5-T in Agent Orange was contaminated with small amounts of dioxins, which were created unintentionally during the manufacturing process. Dioxins are a family of dozens of related chemicals. They can form during the making of paper and in some other industrial processes. The main dioxin in Agent Orange was 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD, which is one of the most toxic.
After a 1970 study found that 2,4,5-T could cause birth defects in lab animals, its use in Vietnam was stopped. A year later, all military herbicide use in Vietnam ended. During the 1970s, some veterans returning from Vietnam began to report skin rashes, cancer, psychological symptoms, birth defects in their children, and other health problems. Some veterans were concerned that Agent Orange exposure might have contributed to these problems. These concerns eventually led to a series of scientific studies, health care programs, and compensation programs directed to the exposed veterans.
A large class-action lawsuit was filed in 1979 against the herbicide manufacturers, and was settled out of court in 1984. It resulted in the Agent Orange Settlement Fund, which distributed nearly $200 million to veterans between 1988 and 1996.
Although there is now quite a bit of evidence about the health effects of Agent Orange, many questions have not yet been answered.
How were people exposed to Agent Orange?
About 3 million people served in the US military in Vietnam during the course of the war, about 1.5 million of whom served during the period of heaviest herbicide spraying from 1967 to 1969.
In studies comparing Vietnam veterans with veterans who had served at the same time elsewhere, blood TCDD (dioxin) levels were found to be higher among those who had served in Vietnam, although these levels went down slowly over time.
Exposure to Agent Orange varied a great deal. Most of the large-scale spraying in Operation Ranch Hand was done with airplanes and helicopters. However, some herbicides were sprayed from boats or trucks, and some were applied by soldiers with backpack sprayers. Those who loaded airplanes and helicopters might have been exposed the most. Members of the Army Chemical Corps, who stored and mixed herbicides and defoliated the perimeters of military bases, probably also had some of the heaviest exposures. Others with potentially heavy exposures included members of Special Forces units who defoliated remote campsites, and members of Navy river units who cleared base perimeters.
Exposures could have occurred when the chemicals were breathed in, ingested in contaminated food or drink, or absorbed through the skin. Exposure may have been possible through the eyes or through breaks in the skin, as well.
One of the challenges in assessing the health effects of Agent Orange exposure has been trying to determine how much any individual veteran was exposed to (or even what they were exposed to), as very little information of this type is available.
Does Agent Orange cause cancer?
A great deal of research has looked at whether exposure to Agent Orange might cause cancer.
What do studies show?
Researchers use 2 main types of studies to try to determine if a substance or exposure causes cancer.
- Studies in people: One type of study looks at cancer rates in different groups of people. Such a study might compare the cancer rate in a group exposed to a substance to the rate in a group not exposed to it, or compare it to the cancer rate in the general population. But sometimes it can be hard to know what the results of these studies mean, because many other factors might affect the results.
- Lab studies: In studies done in the lab, animals are exposed to a substance (often in very large doses) to see if it causes tumors or other health problems. Researchers might also expose normal human cells in a lab dish to the substance to see if it causes the types of changes that are seen in cancer cells. It's not always clear if the results from these types of studies will apply to humans, but lab studies are a good way to find out if a substance might possibly cause cancer.
In most cases neither type of study provides conclusive evidence on its own, so researchers usually look at both human and lab-based studies when trying to figure out if something causes cancer.
Studies in people
Studies of Vietnam veterans provide some of the most direct evidence of the health effects of Agent Orange exposure.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Air Force, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have conducted studies in thousands of Vietnam veterans. However, most of these studies have been limited by the fairly small number of people who were highly exposed to Agent Orange. About a dozen states have also conducted studies of their veterans, and a series of studies of Australian Vietnam veterans has also provided some information on cancer risk.
Studies of 3 other groups of people have also provided important information on the potential cancer-causing properties of Agent Orange exposure:
- Vietnamese soldiers and civilians exposed to the same herbicides as United States service personnel, often for more prolonged periods (although there have been few thorough health studies in these populations)
- Workers exposed to herbicides in other settings, such as herbicide manufacturing workers, herbicide applicators, farmers, lumberjacks, and forest and soil conservationists, who often had much higher blood dioxin levels than Vietnam veterans
- People exposed to dioxins after industrial accidents in Germany, Seveso (Italy), and California, and after chronic exposures at work and in the environment
Each of these groups differs from the Vietnam veterans in the characteristics of the people exposed, the nature of the dioxin exposures, and other factors such as diet and other chemical exposures.
Taken together, these studies have looked at possible links between Agent Orange (or dioxin) and a number of cancer types.
Soft tissue sarcoma: Most studies in Vietnam veterans have not found an increase in soft tissue sarcomas. However, soft tissue sarcomas have been linked to phenoxy herbicide exposure in a series of studies in Sweden and in some studies of industrially exposed workers. Many studies of farmers and agricultural workers show an increase in soft tissue sarcomas, which may be related to herbicide exposure. Soft tissue sarcomas have also been linked to dioxin exposure in some chemical manufacturing workers and in some other workplace studies.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Most studies of Vietnam veterans have not shown an increase in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). But several studies have found a link between phenoxy herbicide exposure (usually at work) and NHL. Some studies of farmers and agricultural workers also suggest this association, although not all studies have found such a link.
Hodgkin lymphoma (Hodgkin disease): Most studies of Vietnam veterans have not found an increase in Hodgkin lymphoma. However, it has been linked to phenoxy herbicide exposure in some other studies. Many studies of farmers and agricultural workers show an increase in Hodgkin lymphoma, which may be related to herbicide exposure.
The link between Hodgkin lymphoma and dioxin exposure specifically is less clear, as studies have had mixed results.
Lung and other respiratory cancers: Most studies of Vietnam veterans have not shown an increase in respiratory cancers, such as those of the lung, trachea (windpipe), and larynx (voice box). Most studies of people exposed to herbicides at work, such as herbicide manufacturing workers, herbicide applicators, and farmers have not found an excess risk of lung cancer.
Most studies of groups of people highly exposed to dioxin after industrial accidents have not found an increase in respiratory cancers. However, chronic exposures to high levels of dioxin in the workplace have been linked with increased risk of respiratory cancers in some studies.
Prostate cancer: Most studies of Vietnam veterans have not found an excess risk of prostate cancer, but results from a few studies have suggested a possible link. For example, a recent study in veterans found that exposure to Agent Orange was linked to an increased risk of developing more aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
Studies of other groups have also yielded mixed results. Most studies of people exposed to phenoxy herbicides at work do not show an excess of prostate cancer. However, some studies have found a small excess risk of prostate cancer related to dioxin exposure.
Multiple myeloma: Most studies of Vietnam veterans have had too few cases of multiple myeloma (a type of immune system cancer that affects the bones) to be helpful in determining if there is a risk. However, at least one study has found that exposed veterans have an increased risk of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), which can be a precursor of multiple myeloma.
Other studies of people exposed to pesticides, herbicides, and/or dioxins have suggested a possible link to multiple myeloma as well. Several studies of farmers and agricultural workers have reported a small increase in risk of multiple myeloma, although some studies show no excess risk.
Bladder cancer: There have only been a handful of studies looking at bladder cancer risk in Vietnam veterans, and the results have been mixed. Results have also been mixed in studies of people exposed to herbicides at work or from industrial accidents.
Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer: Cancers of the GI system – esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, colon, and rectum – have been extensively studied in Vietnam veterans, groups with herbicide exposure in the workplace, and people exposed to dioxins. Most of these studies have not found a link between these exposures and any GI cancer.
Brain tumors: Most studies have not found a link between brain tumors and Vietnam service, workplace herbicide exposure, or dioxin exposure.
Breast cancer: As most Vietnam veterans are men, in whom breast cancer is very rare, few studies have looked for possible links between Agent Orange and breast cancer. Some studies looking at exposure to dioxin in the workplace or from industrial accidents have noted a possible link, but others have not, so more research is needed in this area.
Other cancers: Few studies have looked at a possible link between Agent Orange exposure and other cancers, including cancers of the nose and nasopharynx (upper part of the throat), cervix, endometrium (uterus), ovaries, liver and bile ducts, bone, kidneys, testicles, or skin, or leukemias other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia (in veterans themselves, as opposed to their children).
Leukemia and other cancers in the children of veterans: A few studies have pointed to a possible link between a father's exposure to Agent Orange or other herbicides and leukemia in his children. But several other studies have not found links with leukemia or other childhood cancers.
Studies done in the lab
Herbicides such as 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D are not considered highly toxic compounds by themselves, and high doses are needed to cause effects in lab animals. These compounds have not been linked with cancer in animal studies.
In the lab, TCDD (dioxin) increases the risk of a wide variety of tumors in rats, mice, and hamsters. In lab dish studies, it has been shown to alter which genes inside cells are turned on or off and to affect how cells divide and die, all of which could affect cancer risk.
What the expert agencies say
Several national and international agencies study substances in the environment to determine if they can cause cancer. (A substance that causes cancer or helps cancer grow is called a carcinogen.) The American Cancer Society looks to these organizations to evaluate the risks based on evidence from laboratory, animal, and human research studies.
Some of these expert agencies have looked at whether Agent Orange or related compounds can cause cancer.
Institute of Medicine
Starting in the early 1990s, the federal government directed the Institute of Medicine (IOM), now known as the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies, to issue reports every 2 years on the health effects of Agent Orange and similar herbicides. First published in 1994 and titled Veterans and Agent Orange, the IOM reports assess the risk of both cancer and non-cancer health effects. Each health effect is categorized as having one of the following:
- Sufficient evidence of an association
- Limited/suggestive evidence of an association
- Inadequate/insufficient evidence to determine whether an association exists
- Limited/suggestive evidence of no association
This framework provides a basis for government policy decisions in the face of uncertainty.
In the last update, titled Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2014 (and published in 2016), the links between Agent Orange exposure and cancer were listed as shown. (Note that this table shows only cancers. Other health effects are listed in the next section.)
IOM: Links Between Herbicides (Including Agent Orange) and Cancer
Sufficient evidence of an association
Soft tissue sarcoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)
Hodgkin disease
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), including hairy cell leukemia and other chronic B-cell leukemias
Limited/suggestive evidence of an association
Respiratory cancers (lung, bronchus, trachea, larynx)
Prostate cancer
Multiple myeloma
Bladder cancer
Inadequate/insufficient evidence to determine whether an association exists
Mouth, throat, and sinus cancers
Gastrointestinal cancers (esophagus, stomach, pancreas, colon, rectum)
Liver, gallbladder, and bile duct cancers
Bone and joint cancers
Skin cancers
Breast cancer
Female reproductive cancers (cervical, ovarian, endometrial, uterine sarcoma)
Testicular and penile cancers
Kidney cancer
Brain tumors
Cancers of endocrine glands (thyroid, thymus, etc.)
Leukemia (other than CLL and hairy cell leukemia)
Cancers at all other sites
Cancer (including leukemia) in the children of veterans
National Toxicology Program
The US National Toxicology Program (NTP), formed from parts of several government agencies, evaluates exposures that may be carcinogenic (cancer-causing).
The NTP has not classified the phenoxy herbicides, including Agent Orange, but it lists 2,3,7,8-TCDD (dioxin) as "known to be a human carcinogen."
International Agency for Research on Cancer
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). One of its goals is to identify causes of cancer.
IARC has not rated Agent Orange itself, but it classifies the phenoxy herbicides, including 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." It lists 2,3,7,8-TCDD (dioxin) as "known to be carcinogenic to humans."
Environmental Protection Agency
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), an electronic database that has information on human health effects from exposure to substances in the environment. The EPA is now reviewing whether 2,3,7,8-TCDD (dioxin) is carcinogenic to humans.
(For more information on the classification systems used by the NTP, IARC, and EPA, see Known and Probable Human Carcinogens.)
Does Agent Orange cause any other health problems?
Vietnam service, and Agent Orange exposure in particular, have also been studied for possible links to health problems other than cancer.
In its report Veterans and Agent Orange, the IOM has looked at the possible link between exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides and several non-cancerous health conditions.
IOM: Links Between Herbicides (Including Agent Orange) and Other Health Effects
Sufficient evidence of an association
Limited/suggestive evidence of an association
AL amyloidosis
Early-onset peripheral neuropathy
Parkinson disease (including Parkinsonism and Parkinson-like syndromes)
Porphyria cutanea tarda
High blood pressure
Ischemic heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Chloracne is an acne-like rash caused by exposure to high levels of chlorine-containing chemicals.
Amyloidosis is a condition in which abnormal proteins build up in different tissues and organs in the body.
Early-onset peripheral neuropathy is a condition that starts soon (within a year) after exposure, in which damage to nerves outside the brain and spinal cord causes symptoms such as numbness or tingling in the hands and feet.
Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is a condition that can result in liver damage and blistering of the skin when exposed to light.
Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland is less active than normal.
Concerns have also been raised about other conditions in exposed veterans, including psychiatric illnesses and other nervous system problems, asthma, immune system disorders, digestive diseases, infertility, and birth defects and other health problems in the children of veterans. According to the IOM, there isn't enough evidence at this time to determine if there is a link between these conditions and Agent Orange.
Benefits for exposed veterans
Vietnam veterans and those who served at certain other locations (such as Thailand or the Korean Demilitarized Zone) who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides may be eligible for 3 kinds of benefits.
Because past Agent Orange exposure is hard to prove, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) presumes that all veterans who served in certain locations at certain times might have been exposed. For example, if a veteran served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975 and becomes disabled with one of the conditions designated as Agent Orange-related, the VA classifies his or her disability as service-related. To learn more about who might be eligible for the benefits below, call the Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-800-749-8387 or visit their website at: www.publichealth.va.gov/publichealth/exposures/agentorange/index.asp.
Agent Orange Registry health exam
The Agent Orange Registry is a program administered by the VA since 1978. Veterans who qualify and participate in this program receive a free medical exam, lab tests, and specialty referrals if appropriate. Veterans are not required to enroll in the VA health care system to receive the registry exam.
Disability compensation
Disability compensation payments are available for veterans with service-related illnesses or illnesses that were incurred or aggravated by military service. The amount of the monthly payment is determined by the extent of disability.
The diseases considered related to Agent Orange exposure correspond closely to the conditions found by the IOM to have "sufficient" or "limited/suggestive" evidence of an association. The cancers on the list include:
- Hodgkin disease
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Prostate cancer
- Cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx (voice box), or trachea (windpipe)
- Soft tissue sarcoma (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi sarcoma, or mesothelioma)
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, hairy cell leukemia, and other chronic B-cell leukemias
Conditions other than cancer on this list include early-onset peripheral neuropathy, AL amyloidosis, chloracne, type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, Parkinson disease, and porphyria cutanea tarda. Also included are spina bifida and certain other birth defects in the children of veterans.
Medical benefits
Some veterans qualify for medical care after being exposed to Agent Orange. The VA provides medical care at VA facilities, prescription medicines, and home health and hospice care to veterans with conditions linked with herbicide exposure in Vietnam. These include the cancers and other health conditions presumed to be Agent Orange-related, as listed before.
Veterans might want to check the VA website (www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange) or their local VA hospitals for more information on any of these Agent Orange-related benefits.
Other things you can do for your health
Be sure your doctor knows if you have a history of Agent Orange exposure. Because of the possibility of excess cancer risk, your doctor may advise you to get cancer screening tests and to see your doctor promptly if you have suspicious symptoms.
Of course, veterans are at risk for many types of cancer just like everyone else, even if they haven't been exposed to Agent Orange. You might be able to lower your risk of cancer (and other diseases) by quitting smoking, staying at a healthy weight, getting regular physical activity, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding exposure to other environmental carcinogens.
If you are concerned about past exposure to Agent Orange, you may want to join a support group online or through your local VA hospital. You might also want to consult an occupational and environmental medicine clinic. These clinics can help assess past exposures and any increased risk that you might have as a result. They can also recommend appropriate steps to help you protect your health. You can look for clinics near you by visiting the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics at www.aoec.org.
Along with the American Cancer Society, other sources of information and support include*:
Department of Veterans Affairs
Toll-free numbers:
Health care: 1-800-222-8387
Benefits (including disability compensation): 1-800-827-1000
Home page: www.va.gov
Information on Agent Orange: www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange
Vietnam Veterans of America
Toll-free number: 1-800-882-1316 (1-800-VVA-1316)
Home page: www.vva.org
Information on Agent Orange: www.vva.org/Committees/AgentOrange/index.html
Institute of Medicine
Home page: http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/
Veterans and Agent Orange - Update 2014: http://iom.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2016/Veterans-and-Agent-Orange-Update-2014.aspx
Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics
Website: www.aoec.org
*Inclusion on this list does not imply endorsement by the American Cancer Society
No matter who you are, we can help. Contact us anytime, day or night, for information and support. Call us at 1-800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. ToxFAQs for Chlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins (CDDs). 2011. Accessed at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=363&tid=63 on March 16, 2016.
Ansbaugh N, Shannon J, Mori M, Farris PE, Garzotto M. Agent Orange as a risk factor for high-grade prostate cancer. Cancer. 2013;119:2399-2404.
Chamie K, DeVere White RW, et al. Agent Orange exposure, Vietnam War veterans, and the risk of prostate cancer. Cancer. 2008;113:2464-2470.
Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated Risk Information System: 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD); CASRN 1746-01-6. 2012. Accessed at https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/iris/iris_documents/documents/subst/1024_summary.pdf on March 16, 2016.
Frumkin H. Agent Orange and cancer: An overview for clinicians. CA Canc J Clin. 2003;53:245-255. Accessed at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/canjclin.53.4.245/full on March 16, 2016.
Institute of Medicine, Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides. Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2014. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2016. Accessed at http://iom.nationalacademies.org/Reports/2016/Veterans-and-Agent-Orange-Update-2014.aspx on March 16, 2016.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Supplement 7: Overall Evaluations of Carcinogenicity: An Updating of IARC Monographs Volumes 1 to 42. 1987. Accessed at http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/suppl7/index.php on March 16, 2016.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Volume 100F. A Review of Human Carcinogens: Chemical Agents and Related Occupations. 2012. Accessed at http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol100F/mono100F.pdf on March 16, 2016.
Landgren O, Shim YK, Michalek J, et al. Agent Orange exposure and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance: An Operation Ranch Hand veteran cohort study. JAMA Oncol. 2015;1:1061-1068.
Manuwald U, Velasco Garrido M, Berger J, et al. Mortality study of chemical workers exposed to dioxins: Follow-up 23 years after chemical plant closure. Occup Environ Med. 2012;69:636-642.
US Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program. Report on Carcinogens, Thirteenth Edition. 2014. Accessed at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/content/profiles/tetrachlorodibenzodioxin.pdf on March 16, 2016.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. Facts about Herbicides. Accessed at www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/basics.asp on March 14, 2016.
Last Medical Review: April 29, 2016 Last Revised: August 14, 2017
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.


text:
Most popular? For whom?
Because some riders pushed in a certain way and ignored the rest, but all followed?
Imagine there would be a real freestyle tour or airstyle tour.
Then more riders would do all that and I am sure more people would want to see that.
Look at the surf stuff...I am sure nowadays surf kite videos get more attention.
And look at Rubens videos...
But...good to have it all! Just stop telling us that wakestyle is the way to go and the most wanted.
It is not, it is only a part of the sport. And with more surf and airstyle, the part is getting smaller.


text:
It was an HBO special in the way that the cable channel used to have specials when hardly anyone had cable and the channel was trying to sign people up with the lure of a once-in-a-lifetime event. Every time you thought that the big act on stage must be the finale, another bigger rock legend would hit the stage. I was wondering for a moment when they started talking about Roy Orbison if I should prepare myself for a Lynchian ghost moment, but it turned out to be another Springsteen duo/duet.
I'd like to watch it again and tape parts of it, not all—chacun à sont goût as they say en francais. No offense to Aretha, but her segment gave me time to take a bathroom break, and Annie Lennox, who I love on disc, has never thrilled me live, I'm afraid. In fact, it was when Annie was doing her less-than-amazing thing that it occured to me that I have seen a lot of these folks live.
I saw Annie open for Sting, who I've seen live many times, who played with Stevie Wonder, who I saw at the Obama concert, where I also saw U2, James Taylor, John Legend, Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne. Browne I also saw many years ago as a teenager at the No Nukes concert while on a class trip to D.C. Simon and Garfunkle I saw in Central Park and Lou Reed at The Bottom Line. Ray Davies I saw in the same venue, Madison Square Garden, and in much better voice and spirits fronting The Kinks. I saw Mick Jagger in an elevator once...
So not only was it fun to listen to, but I was enjoying my own six degrees of concert bacon, so to speak. I'm not sure if how the concert was edited for HBO was how it was actually performed, as it seemed a little clunky when they brought out Sting once, then again later, and then did the same thing with the Boss. Not everyone always hit the right note every time, but hell, it's rock 'n' roll. Highlights included Sting + Stevie reaching Higher Ground, Bono, Bruce and Patti Smith doing Because the Night, Bruce and Sam of Sam and Dave doing Soul Man and Bruce and Billy Joel having fun being bridge and tunnel doofuses. Hell, it was Bruce's night. I've never been a huge fan, mostly because he comes from my old stomping grounds the Jersey Shore (I was born in Neptune, N.J.) and it was assumed that you were automatically a Springsteen fan at birth. I can't remember a 7-11 wall from my childhood without "Springsteen Rules!" graffiti on it. I've never been much of a joiner, so I tried to avoid that particular fan club. But it's impossible to grow up in Jersey and not know the catalogue, or the names Clarence Clemons, Nils Lofgren, Little Steven, etc. I will admit to loving 10th Avenue Freeze-out. Who doesn't?
So all in all, a good musical time, the Boss included, although I more highly recommend my "director's cut."


text:
SXSW Accelerator Event for Health IT Startup Companies
John Lynn is the Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network which currently consists of 10 blogs containing over 8000 articles with John having written over 4000 of the articles himself. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 16 million times. John also manages Healthcare IT Central and Healthcare IT Today, the leading career Health IT job board and blog. John is co-founder of InfluentialNetworks.com and Physia.com. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can also be found on Twitter: @techguy and @ehrandhit and LinkedIn.
Each of the past two years I've had a growing desire to go to SXSW. This desire has been fueled by the growing healthcare IT section of SXSW. In 2013, SXSW will have a whole campus dedicated to healthcare IT. That's a great thing for healthcare and should make for an amazing event.
Also, of major interest to me has been the healthcare portion of the SXSW Accelerator. This is the fifth edition of the SXSW Accelerator which showcases some of the web's most exciting innovations. The healthcare IT companies that were part of SXSW Accelerator last year are: Medify, Jiff, BodiMojo, CellScope, Simplee, Beyond Lucid Technologies, VitalClip, and Ginger.io.
For those health IT startup companies that are interested, the application deadline is Friday, November 9, and the event itself will be March 11-12, 2013 in Austin, TX. You can apply and find more information on the SXSW Accelerator page.
Past judges of the event have included Tim Draper of DFJ, Chris Hughes of Facebook and Jumo, Paul Graham of Y Combinator, Craig Newmark of Craiglist, Robert Scoble of Rackspace and Scobleizer, Jeff Pulver of 140 Conference, Chris Shipley of Demo and Guidewire, and Tom Conrad of Pandora to name a few. I've been honored to be part of the SXSW Accelerator board and looking at the names of who they're planning to be involved in 2013 is impressive. Plus, I'm doing my part to make sure that healthcare IT is well represented and that the SXSW accelerator is as good a launching pad for health IT startup companies as possible.
Those companies that participate can improve their product launch, attract venture capitalists, polish their elevator pitch, receive media exposure, build brand awareness, network, socialize and experience all that SXSW Interactive has to offer.
Let me know if you're a health IT company that applies and we'll have to be sure to catch up at the event.


text:
🌇 Who's in 🇨🇦 Vancouver now?
👍 Quick tips
💳 It is normal to tip 15% in Vancouver
🗺 Here's a neighborhood map to get around:
👩💻 Where to work in 🇨🇦 Vancouver?
Find more places at Places to Work in Vancouver.
✈ People who traveled to Vancouver previously
🛫 Where do people go after Vancouver?
One of the most well known cities, few will be surprised by what they see and experience. Very high cost of living can make it tough for many nomads. A lot of things to see and do but most of that costs money. Can feel overwhelming and oppressively business oriented (ie, full of very serious yuppies and places catering to them), especially in Manhattan south of Harlem. Ton of single people, which is good on paper but means everyone you date will get distracted by another person, or multiple, unless you are extremely exceptional, before you have a chance to meet again, never ends. Weather sucks hard from July to August and January to March/April. It's an okay city if you're a biker and varies a lot. Some areas are quite protected, others have no bike lanes. In general, it can be dangerous if you want to commute by bike, it's not Amsterdam. Friendliness of the people varies a lot. I think income/wealth, where they grew up, where they live within NYC, their job, etc. can often give you an idea of what to expect. Service at stores is usually pretty unhelpful and unfriendly but, again, it varies, even within the same store. Internet is fast for the most part. Great selection of food, just a bit pricey besides some of the cheaper pizza slices. Transportation system is good, no need for a car. However, the subway lines are notorious for having issues during rush hour and are usually jam packed. Also, the stations look decrepit and are way out of date. It's pretty safe. Street scams are more prevalent in tourist areas, pick-pocketing and random phone snatching isn't really anything most people worry about. Can be very noisy depending on where you live. You may wake up to extremely loud construction every morning.
Beautiful location but it's just way too expensive. You need to work full time at a tech company here to really afford it. It's also quite small. The divide between rich and poor is obscene, including a lot of homeless and many people asking for money all over. The tech workers who dominate the transplant crowd that you'll be around are mostly workaholic spoiled privileged people full of themselves, not the type I enjoy hanging out with. All the artsy, alternative, and activist types the city used to be known for either live in Oakland or left. The gender ratio is way too heavy on single males, so good luck getting a date, let alone a long term relationship, if you're a straight guy. Obviously, Internet speeds are great, plenty of spots to work from. Nightlife is pretty lackluster as you can imagine.
Nothing does a better job of explaining LA's beautiful diversity and different neighborhoods than the documentary about the late Jonathan Gold, our city's greatest amabassador and the only food critic to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. It is called, "City of Gold" and if you want to know LA, just watch this film. Trailer link: https://youtu.be/DmKTRDfz1zM
You get somewhat acclimated to the weather after a while (and yes, the right wool fabric is the most breathable one so ignore that previous reviewer). I've stayed here on and off for about 4 years now. The expat crowd is great and there really is a lot of opportunity for collaboration. Many networking events every month and a vibrant startup community. The variety of food is some of the best in the world (although you will have to pay to get quality Western). Shopping is great. Nightlife could be better but should satisfy most people. The real downside is the traffic which has become basically as bad as Jakarta, although Bangkok has much better transporation (both skytrain and subway). Living expenses have risen lately so don't count on this being a budget trip unless you want to resort to street food. Internet speed generally has becoming really great. Fast 4G in all operators. If you stay in a new condo or hotel you will average at least 30Mbit – my current co work place runs at 600.
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text:
Any sunny forecasts for Tulane's team following its 3-1 start grew a bit gloomier over the course of an overcast weekend at Turchin Stadium as Notre Dame completed a three-game sweep Sunday with a 8-3 win.
Irish designated hitter Ryan Bull went 4-5 with three runs to lead the team's 14-hit performance.
After jumping to a 2-0 first-inning lead, Notre Dame's solid control of the game and series was solidified by freshman right-handed relief pitcher Nick McCarty, credited with his first save of the season.
"The bullpen experience is new to me," said McCarty, who gave up one hit and one walk in four scoreless innings. "It feels great, and it's nice to be placed in positions by the coaches where they trust you to help the team win."
Tulane slipped to 3-4 heading into a busy nonconference week of action, traveling to Nicholls State on Tuesday, hosting UNO on Wednesday and traveling to Tuscaloosa for a three-game series with Alabama over the weekend.
"Notre Dame just whipped us today," Tulane coach Rick Jones said. "They had pitching out of the bullpen, and they swung the bats well."
Senior Garrett Cannizaro led Tulane at the plate, going 3-4 with two RBIs with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth.
Tulane lacked two of its biggest threats of the plate with Brandon Boudreaux and Blake Crohan out of the lineup because of injuries.
Green Wave junior Kyle McKenzie (1-1) was credited with the loss, giving up seven hits in 3.1 innings.
Brady Wilson followed in relief, giving up five hits in 3.1.
Despite the weekend's sweep, Tulane remains confident.
"Without a doubt we still have confidence in our offense — we have some talented guys on this team," senior Brennan Middleton said.
"I just think that we need to be more aggressive on the fastball early in counts.
"We just need to be more aggressive mentally and more competitive at-bats."
"It's early in the year," Jones said. "When we get healthy, this club can pitch, we're going to play defense, we can catch and throw behind the plate. We get healthy, this is a really good club, and it'll show, but we just have to get healthy and stay healthy."


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text:
Ah, the wonderful world of driving. I started driving last week. My Stealth had been sitting in a garage for over a year. It had been started occasionally and driven around the block but nothing more. The morning I got back from my cold walk to the Secretary of State, I hopped in the Stealth and headed off to work. I made it to the exit for my office when my front left tire went flat. I drove around slowly to 3 different gas stations until I found an air pump that worked. Filled it up. All was fine. I drove to lunch later that day. Upon returning from lunch, my front right tire went flat. I used an air pump at work to fill that up. All was fine. I stopped by a grocery store on the way home. As I was pulling in the parking lot, I accidentally hit the passenger window control, and it went down a bit. Oops. I tried to roll it back up. *crack!* Oops? A part of the mechanism controlling the window movement broke. The next day I ordered two tires, a power window regulator and a new antenna pole (it's the motorized kind that goes up and down; mine's been stuck up for a while).
I received the regulator and antenna early this week. I called about the tires, and the response, although not verbatim, was basically, "Uh. Oh yeah. I was supposed to order those. I'll do it now." I get the old regulator out of my door, and start putting the new one in. Hmm. The holes don't really line up. Wtf. It's a damn driver's side regulator. They sent me the wrong one. I called them. They're shipping out a new one, but I won't have it until next week some time. I did manage to get the antenna replaced, but not without putting two small scratches in my fender. WHORE! Pissed me off. I chucked the screwdriver at my neighbor. He died.
Anyway, driving has been a $500 joy thus far! I can't wait until they put my left tire on the right side and my right tire on the left side, and I can only drive sideways.


text:
Just wondering if anyone can give me some info on cels.
I know this guy who I've bought vintage figs off of,He was cleaning out his basement and found a folder with 12 Orko cels and 12 sketches of the cels.
The folder also had a "check list" I guess you'd call it with the animators name on it and eps# on it.
I know nothing about the value of this I just thought it was an interesting find and was wondering if there were any cell collectors who could give me some helpful info


text:
A Newport News native named Dennis Banks used a strange sort of alchemy to conjure a promising show business career for himself.
He blended a dose of YouTube urban humor with some sharp political insights and just a touch of exposure from conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck.
In no time flat, Banks and his comic alter ego Felonious Munk were racking up more than a million hits on the Internet and thousands of television viewers in the New York City metro area.
Banks, a 39-year-old former automotive finance director with a checkered past, said he's still trying to wrap his head around his own success.
"I just started doing comedy in Virginia...


text:
Gloria W. Wilson McNulty
Gloria W. McNulty, 89, passed away on Dec. 4, 2012, in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. She was born Jan. 11, 1923, to the late William Bisbe Wilson and Irene F. Wilson.
Gloria was a WWII veteran and proud of the years she spent driving an ambulance for the Army Air Corps. She felt that those years helped to define who she became in life.
Gloria is preceded in death by her husband, Clem F. McNulty; her son, Stephen McNulty; her brother, Warren Wilson; and her mother, Irene F. Wilson.
She is survived by her only daughter, Patricia Williams and her husband, Stephen of Mary Esther, Fla.; sons, Michael and his wife, Tabitha, of Tallahassee, Fla., James McNulty of Fort Walton Beach, Richard McNulty of Pensacola, Fla., Edward McNulty of Fort Walton Beach and Douglas Wilson and his wife, Barbara, of Freeport, Fla.
She leaves behind 13 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, 20 great-great-grandchildren, two special nephews and a sister-in-law.
The viewing will be held from 5-7 p.m. Dec. 9 at McLaughlin's Mortuary in Fort Walton Beach with a rosary preceding the visitation.
A mass of the Resurrection will be at 11 a.m. Dec. 10 at Saint Mary Catholic Church with a reception following the burial at Saint Mary Church Parish Life Center.
The family would like to extend special thanks to Covenant Hospice, Fort Walton Beach Rehabilitation Center staff, and all of the wonderful people who have visited and helped our beloved mother through her journey home to be with our Lord. God bless you all.
Dr. Fridtjof Erasmus Nussbaumer
Husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend, and so much more, Dr. Fridtjof Nussbaumer (�Pop�, �Doc Fred� �Freddie�), 78, was born in Clarksville, Tenn., from Anna Sturm and Japhet Nussbaumer. Fridtjof passed away peacefully in his home in Sandestin Dec. 10, 2012, with his family at his side.
Fridtjof was a devoted family man who practiced orthopedic surgery for more than 30 years in Syracuse, N.Y.
He was happily married for 46 years to Mary Nussbaumer who passed in October of 2010.
Whether you were biologically related to him or whether you were one of the lucky ones who was able to be adopted by him, you can know, without a doubt, that you were loved by him. No one could deny his giant heart and his commitment to anyone and everyone.
It�s not very often that you can meet a person and say, �He is the nicest, kindest, smartest man� and have it be true. But without any hesitation, this is his legacy.
�Pop� is survived by his loving children, Kathy Miller, Mark Benton, Christopher Nussbaumer, and Karen Nussbaumer; and grandchildren, Joshua, Rachel, Lara, Rebecca, Eric, Jessica, Brian, Amber, Ashleigh, Adam, Aidan, Bradley, Bryce, and Jackson.
He was the most optimistic person anyone has ever met. He was everyone�s cheerleader. �You can do it! You can do anything you put your mind to!� His words and his spirit will resonate with everyone he touched.
�I�ve had a great life. I have a wonderful family and friends and I have no regrets. If I leave today, I will have lived the best life surrounded by the best family and friends.�
I believe we can all find comfort knowing that we are better people because we have known him and know he will never truly leave any of us.
We love you, Pop. We will miss you, but know you are always right here with us.
Always, Your loving family
William Daniel English
William Daniel English, 77, formerly of Santa Rosa Beach, passed away on Dec. 9, 2012.
Funeral services will be private.


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Wearing dark sunglasses that masked his eyes, Seminole Tribal Councilman David Cypress strolled to the witness stand in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on December 13 and for the next five hours astonished observers. On trial were three former Seminole employees charged with embezzling millions of dollars. The trio's defense was simple: Their management of money wasn't out of line with that of the tribe's leaders. With his long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, Cypress spoke rapidly and nervously about tens of millions of dollars he'd lavished on friends, tribe members, and himself.
"I have no problem with spending money; that's what I've been telling you," the Sun-Sentinel the next day quoted Cypress as saying. "I bought Lexuses for anyone who asked for one. Give me a [sad] Hank Williams song and I'll give you one too."
Cypress represents the Big Cypress Reservation on the five-member tribal council, and he receives an annual spending allocation for his reservation. Other councilmen receive stipends for Brighton, Tampa, Immokalee, and Hollywood. Discretion in spending those millions of dollars is, to put it mildly, a subjective exercise.
Cypress recounted a personal litany of largess that amounted to $57 million in three and a half years. Among the expenditures were $1.6 million to Michael's Decoration; $69,000 to Sound Advice; $40,000 for Bose stereo equipment; $600,000 for auto maintenance and repair at Hendry County Motors; $100,000 at Sears; and roughly $1 million in American Express charges. He spent millions more at Lexus, Cadillac, Honda, BMW, Jeep, Ford, Volkswagen, Lincoln Mercury, and Harley-Davidson dealers.
"I have tribal members that I buy cars for, they go off the reservation, get in trouble, and I need to get a lawyer to get them off the hook," Cypress said. He's shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars to hospitals, drug treatment centers, and lawyers for tribe members and friends who have been overwhelmed by the excesses big money often brings.
He paid $5.8 million to Nationwide Landscaping, which is owned by Krishna Lawrence, his business associate. With $350,000 of tribal money, the two bought a Hollywood boxing gym, from which Cypress keeps all profits.
"I like to help people, and I enjoy giving money away," Cypress told the jury. "Everyone knows if they show up at my door, I'm probably going to help them. That's just the way I am, and I don't want to change."
Nor does it appear that he or any of his fellow councilmen have any reason to curtail the spending binge. In an August 2002 deposition in a civil lawsuit involving the Seminole Tribe, Priscilla Sayen, the tribe's secretary-treasurer, was asked about budget controls and Cypress' spending. Sayen said that the council had budgeted $5 million for the year to Big Cypress Reservation. More than $12 million had already been spent, however. No budget amendments or resolutions had been passed to approve the $7 million in additional spending, nor was he sanctioned as a result.
The tribe's free-spending ways come as no surprise to Tim Cox, who was once the government operations manager for the Seminoles and the right-hand man to former Chairman James Billie. Cox and Billie have been wrangling with the tribe in court since they were ousted in May 2001 by the tribal council, and they've also been targets of federal investigations.
"Keep in mind that you're not dealing with the City of Fort Lauderdale; it's a different country," Cox says of the sovereign Indian nation. "They send their tribal members to Disney on a routine basis, all expenses paid. Buy them cars. They get free medical, which includes breast implants, penile implants. You name it, they get it. And it's all free. Budgets don't mean that much to them. They pass them because they have to for [federal] money. But they've never followed them."
The tumult in leadership came at a crucial time in the tribe's negotiations with Baltimore-based developer Cordish Co. to build Hard Rock Cafe resort-casino complexes in Hollywood and Tampa. Cox claims that Cordish took advantage of the turmoil in tribal leadership and sweetened the deal for itself. Under the deal's terms, the Seminoles offered a $290 million revenue bond to build the resorts, but the tribe is required to use its own money for actual construction of the casino portions, which will cost an estimated $60 million. The tribe won't regain complete control over the operations for 25 years. Completion is expected in spring 2004, with the casinos the last component to be built.
Before getting the boot, Cox and Billie had set up a deal in which Cordish would foot all the upfront costs of securing the bond and the tribe would have gained control in ten years, Cox says.
The modified Cordish-Hard Rock deal has already caused problems for Seminole leadership. As Cypress' testimony suggests, the tribe manages to spend almost all of its roughly $325 million annual revenue, which is derived mainly from casinos in Hollywood, Coconut Creek, Brighton, Immokalee, and Tampa.
"It's not hard to figure out that if you're making $300 million a year and you're spending $290 a year, it's hard to [save] $60 million," Cox says of the money needed for the casinos. "It's basic arithmetic. The only way to [get $60 million] is to terminate contracts and sell land."
The tribe has done just that, Cox contends, by reneging on a major contract for an existing casino. In June 2002, the tribe quit making monthly payments to Coconut Creek Gaming, the outside partnership that funded construction and installation of gaming machines at Coconut Creek Casino. As part of that deal, the tribe committed to paying the partnership 35 percent of the casino's net gaming revenues for ten years after its opening in February 2000. Attorneys for the partnership tried in vain to meet with tribal officials to discuss the delinquent payments, which amount to about $2 million a month. Coconut Creek Gaming has since sued the tribe.
Tim Cox lives in a modest neighborhood in Plantation just off I-595 with his wife, Amy, who is a member of the Seminole Tribe, and their two children. Their one-story, rust-colored brick house is sparsely decorated inside. His study, however, just down the hall from the sunken living room, is jam-packed with tribal documents and court pleadings. Taped to the office door, a homemade placard declares: "Fourth Seminole War Room."
On this cool and sunny day in early January, Cox is beset with a flurry of incoming phone calls, which he is forced to start screening in hopes of completing an anecdote without interruption. He projects the image of a 33-year-old teenager. His frame is small and gangling, and a sly grin frequently crosses his baby face. His high-timbre voice rolls with a rich Southern drawl. He's wearing beige shorts and a black T-shirt with lettering that cautions: "Do not start with me, you will not win." For would-be litigators, at least, the admonition is apt.
Cox worked as government operations manager for the Seminole Tribe of Florida for about two years before losing that job on May 10, 2001. Cox says he resigned; the tribal council officially terminated his employment at a meeting later that same day. Two weeks later, the tribal council suspended its chairman, Billie, who had become enmeshed in a federal lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing a tribe employee.
In September 2001, the tribe sued Cox, Billie, and the St. Petersburg-based Raymond James investment firm in federal court, alleging they had misused the tribe's $30 million investment reserves. The judge dismissed this civil suit in July 2002 for lack of jurisdiction. In a similar criminal case filed in federal court in June 2002, Cox, along with tribal employees Dan Wisher and Michael Crumpton, were indicted and charged with diverting $2.77 million to private accounts in South America.
The three men went on trial in Fort Lauderdale in early December. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed Stamm contended that the men had funneled money to a bogus company, Virtual Data, which was used to conceal the fraud. Cox and Wisher gained access to the tribe's $25 million investment account, Stamm told jurors, and then wrote checks to personal accounts and phony businesses. Other funds were transferred to front companies in Belize and Nicaragua, he claimed.
Billie's testimony laid waste to the prosecution's case, however, when he told jurors that he'd fully authorized Virtual Data. The company was a foray into the lucrative field of Internet gambling and used the discretionary funds available to Billie as chairman. He kept the venture secret, though, because of the tribe's ongoing dispute with the state over a gaming compact and a possible crackdown on Internet gambling by Congress. If the winds turned against such an operation, he didn't want the tribe connected with it.
Using a procedure he said was routine for the tribe, he ordered Cox and Wisher to set up Virtual Data under their own names and use their own accounts for all transactions. The practice was intended to keep the outside world from seeing all their holdings.
After two weeks of testimony, U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas didn't even let the case go to the jury, ruling that the government's allegations were undermined during defense cross-examination and that there was insufficient evidence that tribe money was embezzled. The judge suggested that this case was not unlike prosecuting someone for stealing a car without first checking with the car's owner whether it had been stolen. The three men were acquitted.
Knowing all he did about the council's laissez-faire attitude toward finances, Cox says he was confident that his actions wouldn't be found criminal. "I never believed I was going away," he says. "I never sat down with my kids and said, 'Daddy may be going away for a while.' I was looking at ten years, but I was sure the system would prevail."
Despite the tribe's civil lawsuits against him, Cox says he doesn't hold a grudge against the Seminoles. He considers what's happened in the past few years involving him, Billie, and others as a "family feud." He reserves his animosity for the FBI and prosecutors. "I spent $1.3 billion for the tribe. And they're questioning me about a $2.7 million transaction? That's like me giving you $100 and coming back later and asking you how you spent that money, coming up with $99.80, and you say to me, 'You fucking thief.' That's the equivalent."
Because he was a demanding manager, Cox had an antagonistic relationship with employees from the moment he began. "James called me 'the hatchet man,'" Cox recollects. "I was the one who was going to get everybody mad by changing the organization." He remembers Councilman Max Osceola telling employees at one meeting, "If you get mad at what [Cox] does, you don't understand who you work for. We're telling him what to do. Don't get mad at him; come to us."
The Seminole Tribe of Florida is composed of descendants of Native Americans who resisted forced relocation by the federal government from Florida to Oklahoma during the first half of the 1850s. Rather than move, some retreated into the Everglades. In 1934, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act, which became the basis by which Indian tribes could organize tribal governments and adopt constitutions. The Seminole Tribe of Florida formed a charter in 1957, but most of its members remained uneducated and poor. In 1971, Chairman Howard Tommie introduced tobacco shops and high-stakes bingo in Hollywood. Bingo had already been allowed in Florida, but the law limited jackpots to $100. The state sued, but in 1981, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld the tribe's right to offer high-stakes bingo. Through the 1990s Indian gaming has boomed nationwide, as have the Seminoles' gaming operations. The 2,800-member tribe has reaped hundreds of millions of dollars, but its management of that newfound lucre remained unsophisticated. Billie charged Cox with modernizing the organization.
Support for Cox, however, had waned by the end of 2000, and he was under fire at council meetings. It was around that time that agents of the FBI and IRS began asking questions of members and employees of the tribe. The agencies were interested in the tribe's connections with overseas hotels and casinos and whether those operations were being used for laundering money. Most of the inquiries centered on Billie. "They started actively knocking on doors," Cox says of the agents. "I believe they threatened the councilmen," he asserts, particularly David Cypress and Mitchell Cypress, who was then vice chair. New Times requested interviews with both men but received no response. FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela says agents represented themselves in a professional manner and did not pressure anyone.
Cox points to a cartoon, taped to the wall, that was published in the Seminole Tribune in March 2001. The drawing depicts him standing before the council and advising a spending freeze; a handful of arrows are lodged in his buttocks. "I should have probably left then, but I'm tougher than I am smart," Cox says. "It was after one nasty meeting that Mitchell looked at me and goes, 'No offense -- everything's OK with you. I'm just not going to jail for James Billie.' And David said, 'Me too.'
"Of course, investigations and rumors of investigations have been around James Billie since he became chair in 1979, so there have been 24 years of investigation. But all they came up with was trying to get me, which wasn't a case at all. They wanted James Billie so bad that they intentionally looked past the evidence."
This latest investigation and the expulsion of Billie, however, came at a vital time in the tribe's negotiations with Hard Rock Cafe and the project's developer, Cordish. "I think Cordish took advantage of a volatile situation, the turmoil in the tribe," Cox asserts. And because it was a deal that Billie had put together, the council felt it needed to change it, he adds. "But they really changed it to the disadvantage of the tribe and its members," Cox claims. "They had no idea what they had committed to. It always looks easy when somebody else is doing it. James had been doing it for 22 years by that point. But they figured if dumb old James can do it, they can do it. But reality has not borne that out, unfortunately."
For ten years, tribe officials pondered building a casino in the northwestern suburbs of Broward County. "The question was: Is Hollywood getting it all already?" Cox says. "Hollywood was doing $100 million a year. The feasibility studies were against the place from the start; that's why the tribe didn't do it with their own money."
Still, in the mid-1990s, Indian casinos were popping up all over the nation, and outside investors were vying to help cash-strapped tribes build and furnish casinos in exchange for a piece of the action. "The lure of big money -- that's what it comes down to," Cox says. "The lure of being able to do things and circumvent the federal and state statutes. That's why people go to the reservations." Indeed, if the Seminoles were cautious about launching a new casino, others weren't so hesitant.
Around that time, Robb Tiller, a tribe hanger-on, approached Billie. "[One] day, he comes up with a guy by the name of Gary Fears, and he says he wants to get into a gaming contract," Billie recalled during an interview with the St. Petersburg Times, the transcript of which is posted on the tribe's website. "I said, 'Yeah, right. You bring something out here, a Turbo Commander [aircraft], lay it right there the next day, and I'll believe you.' Time went along and I be goddam, there was a Turbo Commander layin' out there, and I said, 'What the hell is this?' 'We're gonna give it to you, chief.'"
Fears, an Illinois restaurateur and developer, had already made a fortune in riverboat gambling, but he'd also established a dubious reputation. Using his political connections with the governor, Fears had received a state loan for $13.4 million in 1982 for the financially troubled Collinsville Holiday Inn, which he partly owned. He suspended payments several times during the next five years, according to accounts in the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. By 1995, the state moved to cut its losses on the deal by letting Fears pay $6.3 million in lieu of reimbursing the full $20.6 million of the loan. "The taxpayers are going to take a bath, no question about it," state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka said at the time. Illinois' attorney general put the kibosh on that settlement, and the matter is still unresolved.
Fears also sidestepped the background checks required by the Illinois Gaming Board in order get into riverboat gambling, according to an investigation by the Sun-Times. Fears led an investment group called the Alton Riverboat Gaming Co, which applied for a license in July 1990. The group included Fears' son, Victor, and about a dozen other stockholders. In November 1990, fearing that financial problems with his restaurants would interfere with the impending background investigation, the elder Fears sold his 8.3 percent interest to a business partner, who in turn gave Gary and Victor Fears an option to buy the stock back. In 1994, Gary Fears signed over all the options to his son, who sold them for about $4 million.
Billie claimed that Fears' gift of an aircraft didn't influence him or the tribe; still, the two men began negotiating a deal for a casino in Coconut Creek. That didn't sit well with Tiller, however, who eventually sued Fears and several other parties for destroying his relationship with the Seminole Tribe. According to Tiller's Broward County Circuit Court complaint, in 1994 he had "learned of a valuable business opportunity to expand gaming activities at... a new facility in Coconut Creek." That same year, he met Fears, who said he owned Argosy Gaming Co. Fears proposed that together they could find additional financing and buy out the existing management contract at the Hollywood casino and introduce Class III gaming, which is high-stakes Vegas-style gambling, the complaint states. Tiller claims Fears used him for entrée to Billie and the council, "who were notoriously distrustful of Anglo-American businessmen because they had broken their promises in the past and skimmed millions of dollars from the casinos in Hollywood and Tampa."
The Hollywood buyout didn't happen. Instead, Fears began negotiating with the tribe in 1995 to develop a casino in Coconut Creek. In March 1995, Tiller introduced Fears to George Straub, who had controlling interest in Straub Capital Corp. Tiller alleges that in the fall of 1995, Straub and Fears conspired to oust him. Billie continued to support his involvement, Tiller claims, until a St. Petersburg Times article in July 1997 depicted him as disparaging the tribe and chief. The tribe "cut all social and business ties" with him, he claimed. The court dismissed the complaint in October 2002, citing the lack of an actual business agreement between Tiller and the tribe. Tiller's appeal to the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach is pending.
Regardless of what his relationship had been with Tiller, Fears pressed on, only to hit his own roadblocks with Coconut Creek city officials, who were wary of his background. Coconut Creek Casino was ultimately built by Coconut Creek Gaming, a limited partnership. Its general partner is North American Sports Management IX Inc. (NORAM), which is based in Maitland, Florida. Alan H. Ginsburg, NORAM's president, has casino development deals with tribes in five states, according to a December 2002 Time magazine investigation of Indian gaming. Fears is apparently still involved, however. The St. Petersburg Times reported in July 2001 that Fears had admitted in a lawsuit deposition to being "the largest and probably majority" shareholder in the partnership.
The deal between the Seminoles and the partnership was structured so that the latter would build the casino, supply it with gaming equipment, and fund startup costs. The tribe, which would operate the casino, would then pay back all those costs, including interest. In addition, the tribe would pay the partnership 35 percent of the net revenues for the next ten years, which by 2002 was about $2 million a month. About 800 slot machines fill the 30,000-square-foot casino.
According to Craig Rasile, a Miami attorney who represents Coconut Creek Gaming, the tribe had already paid back the upfront costs by the summer of 2002. But then, inexplicably, the tribe failed to make the $1.79 million payment due in June. The tribe had waived its sovereign immunity for the deal, which meant that the partnership had the ability to file a lawsuit in court against the tribe. The waiver, however, had stipulated that in the event of a dispute, the company would first need to meet with tribal officials before filing a lawsuit, Rasile says. The partnership wrote to the tribe three times in August requesting a conference but received no response.
The company filed suit against the Seminole Tribe in Broward Circuit Court on October 11, 2002. At the same time, the partnership requested that the court appoint a custodian to make sure the casino accounts were not commingled with other funds. In supporting its case for a custodian, the company alleged in court papers that Billie's ouster as chairman created a void in tribal leadership "resulting in disarray and a lack of control over tribal affairs." The motion also cites Treasurer Priscilla Sayen's deposition as an indication of the "state of disarray" in the tribe's cash management policies.
The tribe's attorneys maintain that Billie made changes to the contract that did not receive the required sign-off from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC). As a result, they assert, the contract is void.
Cox dismisses the tribe's defense of its actions. "I didn't particularly agree with the NORAM deal, even when I was with the tribe," he says. "But keep in mind that despite the fact that these guys say this contract was done by James Billie and they didn't know about, it is a valid contract that was approved by the council, which at that time was the [Seminole] Gaming Commission. They knew it from the get-go. The current chair, Max Osceola, negotiated the deal. It was in the works for six years. The contracts were forwarded to the NIGC, forwarded to the BIA."
In October 2002, the tribe submitted to the NIGC the contracts that are now in force, says Richard Schiff, a spokesman for that agency. The NIGC is currently examining them to see if they violate the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
As profitable as the Coconut Creek Casino quickly proved itself to be, the tribe's planned resort-casinos in Hollywood and Tampa promise to be a bigger bonanza.
The Hollywood casino, which will be built northwest of the intersection of Stirling Road and State Road 7, will cover about 115,000 square feet and house about 2,000 electronic gambling machines and 65 gaming tables, making it the largest in the state. The first phase calls for a 250-room hotel, with the construction of a foundation for 500 more rooms in the future. The resort area includes 12 restaurants, 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, and a 1,500-capacity music arena. About 400,000 square feet of retail-entertainment space will be built in two phases.
The tribe closed on $315 million in bond financing in June 2002. The terms of the bond call for the Seminoles to pay $2 million a month for interest payments as well as save $36 million to fund the construction of casinos in Hollywood and Tampa. The estimated cost of building both is $60 million, Cox says.
The tribe began negotiating in the mid-1990s with Hard Rock Cafe International, which is a subsidiary of London-based The Rank Group, to anchor the gambling complexes in Hollywood and Tampa. The Cordish Co. was brought in as developer.
"The tribe needed Cordish," Cox recalls. "They are one of the premier developers in the country. They've never done business in Indian country, though they've been chased many times to do so."
The development company was founded by David Cordish in 1968 and focused solely on suburban shopping center developments. By the 1980s, the company branched out into large-scale urban projects in Niagara Falls, Salt Lake City, Detroit, and Chicago. Its development centerpiece, however, is on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Cordish converted a dilapidated and abandoned brick power plant into an entertainment-retail complex, which includes a Barnes & Noble, an ESPN Zone, and the Cordish headquarters.
"I negotiated the first deal with Cordish over about six months," Cox says. "They weren't happy with it, but they were going to make a billion dollars over the life of the contract. You need a Cordish to land the big-name franchises. You're building an $800 million complex. You don't want to put in unknown restaurants. You want the Barnes & Nobles, the Hard Rocks, the Harley-Davidson Cafes. Most big-name people don't want to deal with Indian country because of the sovereign immunity, the instabilities. It's just a different environment because of the very short distance between abject poverty and where [tribes] are now. The business experience you're working with is minimal.
"What Cordish was going to do was actually bring in bidders, if you will, such as Harley-Davidson Cafe," Cox explains. "Because the goal was -- now this was me thinking -- everyone that got a spot would have a tribal member partner. 'You want to open a Harley Davidson Cafe? That's great. Who's your Indian partner? None? Sorry... next!' That way, the Indians get a double benefit: An increase in dividends, and they get business experience with a little bit of extra money over here."
The contract Cox negotiated, he says, was for ten years, similar to the Coconut Creek Casino deal. The tribe would sell municipal bonds to fund the resort-casinos in Hollywood and Tampa, but Cordish would have paid all the money to close the bonds, which would have included funding for building the casino. The tribe would have had total control over all hiring, design, and subcontracting.
"I've been around the tribe for ten years, and I knew they wouldn't save money," Cox says. "It's just not in their nature. For anybody to commit the tribe to putting away that kind of money" -- referring to the $36 million required in the current contract -- "and $2 million a month for interest payments -- it can't happen without eventually doing what they've done."
Cox maintains that Cordish seized upon the tribe's internal strife and brokered a new deal. "I think they saw an opportunity to go back and get what they didn't get with me," Cox says. "They wanted a contract for the retail and the hotel all the way up through the 25th year, which was when the Hard Rock franchise agreement would expire.
"I do know that the new contract isn't advantageous to the tribe. Are they going to make a lot of money? Yeah. Are they going to make as much as before? Yes, up to the tenth year, but on that 11th year, when you're still paying Cordish, you've just lost money. And you'll lose all the way to the 25th year. [The tribe] can't even say who the general manager is. My son, who's 5 now, he'll be 31 years old before the tribe regains control of that property. And there's no guarantee that he'll have any experience in [casino management] to make a claim as a tribal member. The last 15 years, the tribe gets fucked."
Cordish did not respond to questions e-mailed by New Times.
Cox contends that tribe officials felt compelled to rejigger the Hard Rock deal because he and Billie had been involved with it. "All these guys are concerned with is the appearance that they're doing something," he says. "I don't think they necessarily knew what they were agreeing to."
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The tribe's attempt to rid itself of payments to Coconut Creek Gaming is just desperation to make the Hard Rock deal work, Cox says. Indeed, during a deposition taken in September 2002 for a civil lawsuit against the tribe, Jim Shore, long-time attorney for the Seminoles, suggested as much. "When we were financing the Hard Rock project," Shore said, "we wanted to make sure all of our other gaming documents were in order so as not to jeopardize the funds that we were going to raise for that project."
Paul Filzer, a Cleveland attorney who represents Coconut Creek Gaming, says it doesn't really matter why the tribe reneged. "The bottom line is we had a valid fully enforceable contract," he says. "I have no concrete evidence as to why the tribe stopped paying at Coconut Creek, and I have no evidence regarding their transactions in Hollywood and Tampa. I don't know the tribe's financial position to know whether or not they would have needed to take the payments they make to the Coconut Creek partnership and use that to fund their construction escrow account. Anything's possible."
Early in January, Billie showed up at Seminole headquarters and announced he was stepping back into the chairman's shoes. After a bit of a ruckus, Billie left at the request of tribal police. Asked about the casino contracts, Billie told New Times, "To tell you the truth, I haven't spent much time worrying about how the contracts are. I've been worrying about getting in first, and then I'll look at it. I'm sure it's not too far out of whack, but I won't know until I get in."
Cox says he believes the tribe will ultimately come up with the money needed to complete the Hard Rock resorts -- but at a greater cost. "The problem I see is, who's going to want to do business with them?" he concludes. "If you're a franchisor and you see what's been in the papers the last several years, would you really want to do business with them?"