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We are ModSquad, the Moderate Democrats PAC. Please join us in standing with Senator Mark Warner. Together, we'll move America forward. Show your support and donate today!
Contributions to Friends of Mark Warner are limited to $5,400 per individual ($2,700 for the primary election and $2,700 for the general election) and federal multi-candidate PACs may contribute $10,000 ($5,000 for the primary election and $5,000 for the general election). Spouses (including legally married same-sex couples) may contribute $10,400 ($5,200 each) by one check drawn from a joint account and signed by both individuals.
Paid for by ActBlue (actblue.com) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Contributions or gifts to ActBlue are not deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax purposes.


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Confessions of an information junkie
According to alleged experts, addictions, both good and bad, come in many forms. However, when I stop and seriously think about it, that might not be quite true. Could it be that "good" addictions are non-existent? Doesn't an obsession with anything keep us from exploring options, widening our horizons, and taking a good look at all the world has to offer? You know - the big picture.
Aren't the addicted possessed or dependent on everything from drugs and alcohol to fitness and food? Don't they cut themselves off from everything that does not relate to pursuing their passion? Aren't addicts often unaware of their addiction? According to our crack team of researchers, the Googlamaniacs, the same alleged experts say that all of the aforementioned is true. If that is the case, then it is possible to be addicted to just about anything, which brings us to the point of today's column. I believe I am an information junkie.
The epiphany happened a couple of weeks ago when my super tricked-out state-of-the-art, latest, greatest, and most powerful information gathering laptop computer on the entire planet - crashed. It was a terrifying moment. The million color liquid-crystal display froze in mid-download. I felt as if my heart had seized. Life as I knew it came to a screeching halt. I was no longer connected to the virtual world. I was alone, exposed, forced to face reality in the flesh with no virtual support. Although dizzy and feeling slightly queasy, I managed to keep my wits together and assumed a game face. I was cut off from instant information. Never had I felt so vulnerable, as if I were the only one naked in a crowd.
I stuffed the ailing machine into my always-present computer bag and drove to the local mall. After a seemingly endless search, I found a parking place and walked down two levels to the computer store at a fast clip. I didn't run. If I was confronted by people I knew, I didn't want them to assume that anything was wrong. Once inside the store I felt safer. I was amongst friends.
Store personnel greeted me by my first name, slapped my free hand with high fives. "What's happenin' dude?" and "What you doin' here? We got nothin' left to sell you. You bought everything." Then they laughed. They didn't know . . . I didn't want them to know. "I gotta see the man - new stuff on the market," I lied.
I went to the door to the inner sanctum where computers are repaired at the back of the store. A security camera watched me push the entry button. A few seconds later, a buzzer signaled me in. I opened the door and stood for a moment as my eyes adjusted to the dark windowless room. The only light emitted from display screens and workstations where techies performed their magic, fixing, and upgrading computers of every description.
In the center of the room was a small inner room enclosed in glass. "The man" was inside, his pasty white skin a stark contrast to his black T-shirt. Everybody knew him as "Gizmo," or "The Giz." I'd known him for 10 years and had no idea what his legal name was, or if he had one. I stopped at the door.
"What's goin' on?" I asked. "Let's see," the Giz said. "The market's down, gas is up, South America's getting' hot, football's in a trading frenzy and Britney and the girls are overexposed and boring. All puns intended. And, as for the future of the planet, we're gonna need another rock to sit on in less than a century." The Giz knew, he was cool, always on top. Nothin' slipped by him. "I got problems," I said, then I told my sad tale.
"Logic board and ram, dude. You're gonna be outta the loop for awhile," he said. "A lump jumped into my throat. I started to sweat. I was speechless. I just left the bag and walked out. He didn't try to console me. He knew that words would not be adequate.
I had no way of accessing foreign editions of newspapers at the touch of a button. I couldn't instantly call up half a dozen versions of hot stories. For the first time in two-years I was going to flunk the weekly news quiz because I wasn't in the loop. I couldn't get to my email. People would be looking for me. The last time this happened, I was in a hotel that advertised Wi- Fi(wireless fidelity to connect to the Internet). I waited an hour and it wasn't fixed. I was so nervous I read everything in the room, even the back of the door. I knew where every soft drink dispenser, snack machine and fire extinguisher was located. I knew the laundry pickup schedule, and the phone extension of every service. I checked out. I couldn't take the isolation.
My condition is sad, I know. I got caught up in the information frenzy without being even slightly aware. Now I can't live without it. When information junkies are cut off from their source, we don't know where we belong in that frightening system we just can't understand.

subset: commoncrawl


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Shipfaced Booze Cruise 2017
Zante Boat Parties 2018
Saturday, 16 September 2017 from 14:30 to 20:00 (EEST)
Event Details
The only booze cruise in Zante to include an unlimited free bar is back again for the 2017 summer season.
Party on a 5 boat around Zante. We hope you enjoy jumping off the boat and swimming in the ocean. We stop off at a secluded beach and also visit the caves, "What happens in the caves stays in the caves!!!"
We offer a 4 hour unlimited free bar which includes all spirits and mixers and shots.
ENTERTAINMENT AND DJ's
Top DJ's and hosts will keep you entertained onboard. The boat boasts a Massive dancefloor, bar area and chillout areas. State of the art onboard sound system. Think of the boat as a floating club on the sea!!
All this for only £50! DO NOT MISS OUT!! Reserve and Guarantee your place with a £10 deposit and pay the remaining balance in Zante. You will receive a confirmation of your booking and receipt automatically by email.
Where do I pay the remaining balance when I arrive in Zante?
You can either come to our office smack bang in the middle of Zante bar strip at the Sabotage & Aussies club or we can arrange for a rep to come to your hotel reception these details are in your email confirmation as soon as you have booked.
Do I need to Pay the remaining balance in Pounds or Euro's?
You can pay the balance in Pounds or Euro's.
What are my transport/parking options getting to the event?
Shipfaced provide air conditioned coach transfer to and from the Port of Zakynthos
Where can I contact the organiser with any questions?
Whatsapp: +447473376534
Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?
Your name will be automatically added to our guestlist.
What is the refund policy?
Reservations can only be refunded if the boat party is cancelled.
More information about Zante Shipfaced Boat Party go HERE.
To find out about more Zante events and packages go HERE.
When & Where
Sabotage & Aussies
Laganas Main Road
Main Road
290 92 Laganas
Saturday, 16 September 2017 from 14:30 to 20:00 (EEST)
Add to my calendar


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Jean Boivin
Jean Boivin, PhD, Managing Director is Head of Economic and Markets Research at the BlackRock Investment Institute, a global platform which leverages BlackRock's global expertise to generate insights that augment their ability to create a better financial future for their clients.
Prior to joining BlackRock, Dr. Boivin served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada and then Associate Deputy Finance Minister and Finance Canada's representative at the G7, G20 and Financial Stability Board. Dr. Boivin has also taught at INSEAD, HEC Montreal and Columbia Business School and has written widely on macroeconomics, monetary policy and finance.
Dr. Boivin earned a B.Sc. degree in economics from the Universite de Montreal in 1995, an MA in economics from Princeton University in 1997 and a PhD in economics from Princeton University in 2000.


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Climb to ledge from the R, then into thin crack to the R. Up and then back L.
Start: On bushy ledge 3m up, at R end of crag.
Mount Arapiles is first and foremost a trad climbing area. The few sport climbs tend to be in the higher grades where no natural pro is available.
Bolting, particularly retro-bolting, is discouraged and should only be undertaken after extensive consultation with the local climbers, first ascensionists, etc. Inappropriately placed bolts have been chopped.
Do not chip the rock.
Look after the park.
Stick to the paths.
Don't disturb the wildlife.
Routes near peregrine falcon nesting sites are closed in the spring.
Minimise the impact of your camping (fuel stoves not fires, take your rubbish with you, etc).
28 Jul 1984
First Ascent: Kieran Loughran, Terry Tremble & Jane Wilkinson, 28 Jul 1984
Some content has been provided under license from: © Australian Climbing Association Queensland (Creative Commons, Attribution, Share-Alike 2.5 AU)
|Community registered grade
|A Rockclimbers Guide to Arapiles/Djurite
|ACA Route Register
|Mega Classic
|Very Good
|Don't Bother
Based on 0 user ratings
Learn about creating circuits.
Check out what is happening on Brand X (note there is an unresolved system issue where ascents logged before 2010 are not displayed in the stream below). If you just want to see beta then click on view ascents with beta.


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$13.91 *
Status: Usually shipped within 10 - 12 working days
Department: Piano, Keyboard & Organ - Organ
Publisher: Kevin Mayhew
This product includes pieces featured in grade exams. Click on a grade to view the full syllabus.
|Trinity College London Organ 2015-2018
There are currently no reviews for this product.


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- Home
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- Special Sections
- Classifieds
- Public Notices
Bardstown ended the Anderson County Middle School girls' basketball team's drive for a three-peat with a 32-21 victory in the finals of the Mid-Kentucky Athletic Conference tournament, held Thursday at Anderson County High School.
The Lady Mustangs' two-year reign over the tournament ended in a way uncharacteristic of a team that finished its season at 23-4 and a middle school career at 72-11.
Anderson shot just 15 percent from the field on the night.
For a complete report, see the Nov. 10 edition of The Anderson News.
Add new comment
Read and share your thoughts on this story


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The company says Jane Henson died Tuesday at her Connecticut home following a battle with cancer. She was 78.
She and Jim Henson met in a University of Maryland puppetry class in the mid-1950s, and they became creative and business partners in the development of the Muppets.
The Hensons married in 1959 and had five children: Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John and Heather. The pair separated in 1986, and Jim Henson died in 1990.
In 1992, Jane Henson created and funded The Jim Henson Legacy to preserve his artistic contributions.
A memorial Mass is planned next week.


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I was recently talking to some friends who live along Pinellas County waterways, and they're nervous about their property values based on the recent changes in federal flood insurance subsidies. One heard rumors property values were going to plummet; another feared he wouldn't be able to sell his house in the future.
With similar concerns being raised across Florida and other flood-prone areas, I decided to sit down with Pinellas County Property Appraiser Pam Dubov to learn more.
Whereas market values of homes have traditionally been driven by their locations, age and physical dimensions, elevation could now become a bigger factor under the changes to the National Flood Insurance Program that took effect Oct. 1.
"In order to get the tax roll to follow the market accurately, I need the elevation data," Dubov said.
The Pinellas County Property Appraiser's office, though, currently lacks the tools to measure elevation accurately, and Dubov is not alone. Across Florida, property appraisers are working overtime to change their systems to accommodate elevation data into their databases. Dubov's office is going so far as to merge aerial photographs and oblique imagery (aerial photos at a 45-degree angle) with maps and just about anything else they can lay their hands on. Based on that information, Dubov's office will make educated guesses and adjust its data, and that's no small effort.
Understand that a couple of feet in elevation can make a big difference in a property's market value and its assessed taxes. Values for comparable homes may even vary on the same street. For example, a street appearing to be level may actually be sloped, such that a house on one end may be elevated a few feet higher than a house at the other end. Those differences will affect property values.
Dubov said her staff will be working hard through the fall, winter and spring to put it all together for the 2014 tax roll. Nonetheless, the elevation data will be less-than-perfect.
Knowing this, the tax appraiser's office will gladly accept certificates of elevation to supersede its own elevation figures. Such certificates can be prepared by surveyors or engineering firms at a cost ranging from $200 to $500. Without such a certificate, calculating the elevation defaults to the property appraiser's office, with its amalgamation of maps and photos.
Surprisingly, many homeowners whose homes are paid off and, consequently, do not need flood insurance have seemed apathetic about the changes to the flood insurance program, Dubov said. But what about when they try to sell their homes? Potential buyers will shy away from homes and condos in areas with skyrocketing flood insurance rates, unless they don't need to take out a mortgage. Naturally, this has local Realtors nervous about the future.
Like it or not, though, this is going to affect a lot of people in Pinellas County, as shown by a new map developed by the property appraiser's office. To take a look, go to www.pcpao.org.
The changes won't impact newer homes built to accommodate flood-prone elevations. But people in older homes built before flood maps were redrawn will see dramatic increases.
Pinellas County has the highest number of properties in the nation that could be affected by the law — more than 50,000 parcels, according to Dubov's office.
Legislation introduced this week in Congress could freeze the dramatic rate increases for four years and, ultimately, reverse some of the impacts of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act — or phase in rate increases more gradually. State lawmakers have also been exploring options for encouraging more private insurance companies to offer flood insurance or to create a state-backed system.
Regardless of what happens in Tallahassee and Washington, homeowners can help themselves by getting elevation certificates for their properties. To me, the message is loud and clear: It's no longer a matter of just location, location, location; it's now all about elevation, elevation, elevation.
Keep the faith!


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Leggy[OH]/T-Rextasy[NY]/Mirror Mirror/ Babe Lords
Feb 5. 9-12AM @ The Sinkhole
FB Link
Hello Shark // The Vanilla Beans // The Chair Enthusiasts // Everybodies
Mar 2. 8-11pm @ Foam
WashU vs. St.Norbert - First Round NCAA Tournament
Mar 3. 7:30PM
Announcers: Jack Besser, Tyler Brandt
WashU vs. Wheaton/Rose-Hulman - Second Round NCAA Tournament
Mar 4. 7:00PM **Will only occur if WashU wins Friday
Announcers: Jeff Blackman, Tyler Brandt
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Check out this op-ed published in the Inter Press Service news agency, about Worldwatch's recent Vital Signs report on organic agriculture.
The article discusses the benefits and opportunities of organic farming worldwide. Irganic farmland has grown more than threefold since 1999; in this time, certified organic products have created a niche market, allowing farmers to earn premium prices over conventional products, particularly when selling to supermarkets or restaurants.
To read the full article, click here.


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No Grand Rapids Carve-Out under EAA Bill
Josh Pugh of Progress Michigan writes that Rep. Lisa Lyons, R-Alto, is having "issues with integrity," alleging that Rep. Lyons' bill to expand the state Education Achievement Authority has a clause that would exempt Grand Rapids Public Schools.
This is a rumor I first heard when attending a meeting held by Oakland Schools Superintendent Vicki Markavtich. But it's not true.
Stay Engaged
Under H.B. 4369 (see page 55), which Pugh cited in his Detroit News column, a school may be delayed from state takeover for up to three years if it has replaced its principal and at least 50 percent of instructional staff. These requirements are clearly not designed specifically for Grand Rapids Public Schools and can alone debunk Pugh's allegation.
But, taking a look at the list of criteria schools must meet to have the chance delaying inclusion into the EAA is instructive.
Below are the district-level requirements.
- The school must be in a district that is not running an operating deficit. According to The Detroit News, 500 districts would meet that requirement this year.
- The school must be in a district that has maintained an operating fund balance of at least 5 percent. According to The Detroit News, nearly 600 Michigan school districts and charter public schools had an operating fund balance of at least 5 percent in 2011.
- The district must have received an unqualified opinion from an independent auditor for the past three years. Even the Muskegon Heights school district received an unqualified opinion from an independent auditor in 2011, despite the fact that parts of the audit could not be completed, due to an ongoing investigation by the Michigan State Police.
- The district has provided financial reports and audits in a timely fashion.
Though Grand Rapids Public Schools may qualify under these requirements, they are clearly not tailored for a particular district. In addition to these requirements, and the requirement that a school replace its principal and at least 50 percent of its instructional staff, schools must also have increased student learning time, increased staff collaboration time and use student data to differentiate instruction, among other things.
This is not an unequivocal endorsement of HB 4369. I have my own concerns about the proposal, chiefly regarding the methodology of how schools are determined to be persistently low-achieving.
But the allegation that this bill is somehow designed specifically to exempt Grand Rapids Public Schools is wrong. Those skeptical of the proposal should read the bill and raise substantive criticisms.
Related Articles:
Michigan's Largest Teachers Union Funds Leftist Activist Group
Progress Michigan Hits Road With False School 'Cuts' Claims
Bill Closing Possible Loophole In Photo ID Voting Law May Be On Fast Track
Union Rules: Ineffective Teacher's Raise is 4x That of 'Teacher Of The Year'
Superintendent Compensation Available Online


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Hickory to discuss bear sightings
HICKORY – Hickory residents have seen a black bear in several northwest sections of the city this summer. In response, the city of Hickory is hosting a community meeting Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m. N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission District 8 Wildlife Biologist Danny Ray will discuss bear issues and answer citizens' questions at the Geitner Building located in Geitner-Rotary Park, 2035 12th Street Drive, NW.
Hickory operates two parks in northwest Hickory where a bear could find suitable habitat. Parks and Recreation staff have not seen a bear at Glenn C. Hilton, Jr. Memorial Park, located at 2000 6th Street, NW, or Geitner- Rotary Park, but have taken extra steps to deter bear presence and activity. Extra steps include removing trash bags from trash containers right before the park closes each night and ensuring all dumpsters have closed lids at all times.
Hickory has no jurisdiction or legal authority to interfere with wild animals. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has full jurisdiction and authority over wildlife in the State of North Carolina.


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Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.
out of 100
Metascore®Mixed or average reviewsbased on a weighted average of allcritic review scores.
'Return of the Jedi' is fun, magnificent fun. The movie is a complete entertainment, a feast for the eyes and a delight for the fancy. It's a little amazing how Lucas and his associates keep topping themselves.
Read Full Review
Cuteness is the watchword here. The dark, eerie atmosphere that oozed from every frame of "The Empire Strikes Back" is gone. Instead, for Return of the Jedi, we have good triumphing decisively over evil, a too-pat resolution to a love triangle, and walking teddy bears.
Best of all, a revisit with Jedi makes a viewer appreciate spectacle, presentation, mythology -- that, and the power of a bitchin' helmet to speak volumes in a language even an alien can understand. [Special Edition]
See all Return of the Jedi reviews at Metacritic.com
OK for kids 8+
Ewok-filled finale less Force-ful than previous.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that there are two versions of this feature, the original 1983 release (on VHS and Laserdisc) and a later one on DVD to which George Lucas added enhanced special effects -- some of the aliens are obvious puppets, others are obvious CGI. Both feature abundant fantasy violence, from spaceship dogfights and light-saber duels to guerrilla-style war waged with primitive weapons by the cute Ewoks (which is played largely for laughs, though one Ewok is shown dead). Deaths of prominent characters in the series, including a peaceful one in bed for Master Yoda and a more dramatic exit (and funeral pyre) for Anakin Skywalker.
Educational value: Intended to entertain, not educate.
Messages: Luke Skywalker successfully resists giving in to the dark side of the Force, and he repeatedly asserts that there is still good remaining in his father, the diabolical Darth Vader. Both the roguish Han Solo and Lando Calrissian end up in heroic leadership roles. The Empire is composed entirely of white males, while the rebels are a blend of genders, races, and species.
Role models: Clear line between good and bad. Luke's struggle with negative emotions and his ultimate success at remaining positive and on the side of good is a good example of self discipline.
Violence and scariness: Explosions of spacecraft and ground weapons. Light-saber fighting results in loss of limbs. Speedy airborne craft slam into trees, and soldiers are shot down by blaster fire, and one Ewok dies. Robots and pig-like aliens are dismembered and devoured in Jabba the Hutt's dungeons. Jabba is strangled slowly by a chain.
Sexy stuff: Scantily clad harem girls dance suggestively in the lair of Jabba the Hutt, including Princess Leia.
Language: Not an issue
Consumerism: There was an Empire of toy tie-ins and cartoon spin-offs.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: None, unless you count the hookah pipes in Jabba's place.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.
© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2018 FANDANGO MOVIES.


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Rowdy's Dream Blog #252: Hummingbirds covered with frost.
I have left my black and blue butterflies in the back yard at my parents' house. I go out to get them but we've had a cold snap in the night. Hummingbirds covered with frost are barely able to hover near the house. One of them lands in my hand and I cover it and carry it inside. The trip takes a very long time. There is now no time to return to get the others. A weird tenant guy runs a restaurant in their basement. He has a sign out on the street.


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How to: Extend the Functionality of a Dataset
You can extend the functionality of typed datasets by writing code into the dataset's partial class file.
The code that defines typed datasets is regenerated when changes are made in the Dataset Designer or when changes are made during the running of any of the wizards that create or modify objects in the dataset; for example, the Data Source Configuration Wizard, and the TableAdapter wizards. To prevent your code from being deleted during regeneration of the dataset, add code to the dataset's partial class file. (Partial classes allow code for a specific class to be divided among multiple physical files. For more information, see Partial (Visual Basic) or partial (Type) (C# Reference).)
To create the dataset's partial class file and add validation code, double-click columns and tables, which result in the generation of ColumnChanging and RowChanging event handlers. For more information, see How to: Validate Data During Column Changes and How to: Validate Data During Row Changes.
To add code to a typed dataset's partial class file
Open the dataset in the Dataset Designer. For more information, see How to: Open a Dataset in the Dataset Designer.
Double-click the design surface in an empty area to open the dataset's partial class file in the code editor.
Add your code to the dataset's partial class file.
The code in the partial class file and the generated dataset class file is compiled into one class, so variable, property, and method names, and so on must be unique across all files that define the dataset, or compiler errors will occur.


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Media reactions
You can filter the media reactions by subject and/or by date.
UN report places correct emphasis on need for political solutions to crises
In response to the publication of the UN Secretary General's report ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, Oxfam deems the focus on political solutions correct as the humanitarian system is overwhelmed.
El Nino: Zimbabwe declares "state of disaster" as Oxfam plans response
Zimbabwe has declared a 'state of disaster' regarding drought in the country that has been triggered by El Nino. With one in five Zimbabweans facing food struggles, Oxfam says this could shock the international community into action.
SwissLeaks Scandal one year on: political response to tax dodging is sluggish, says Oxfam
The political response to tax dodging in the 12 months since the SwissLeaks scandal hit the headlines has been slow and restrained, said Oxfam today. SwissLeaks exposed how global banking gia
Money for aid, though vital and welcome, will not solve the Syria crisis
In response to billions of dollars being pledged by governments today to help Syrians engulfed in the country's conflict, Andy Baker, Regional Program Manager for Oxfam's Syria crisis response said: "The London conference is a potential turning point. But while money for aid is vital, it will not solve the crisis."
Yemen on slow road to starvation
Yemen is on a slow downward road to starvation and the growing number of people going hungry shows its descent is gathering pace. All those fuelling Yemen's tragedy need to stop being arms brokers and start becoming peace brokers.
Urgent action needed as South Africa faces maize drop linked to 'super' El Nino
South Africa is facing its smallest maize harvest since 2007 this year as record-high temperatures and drought continue to hit its agricultural sector. According the government's Crop Estimates Committee, only 7.44 million tons of maize is likely to be harvested in 2016 - that's 25 percent less than the 9.94 million tons reaped.
EU Anti-Tax Avoidance package will fail to end the era of tax havens, warns Oxfam
Despite EU intentions to crack down on tax avoidance, the European Commission's Anti-Tax Avoidance Package does not do what it says on the tin, warns Oxfam, and developing countries will feel the EU's failure most.
World Trade Organization not delivering what world urgently needs: a strong fair rules-based and multilateral trading system
The recent World Trade Organization deal made in Nairobi fails to deliver what is urgently needed, while the US and the EU continue to push for regional rather than international agreements, said Oxfam International's Campaigns and Advocacy Director, Celine Charveriat.
One million refugees and migrants have fled to Europe in 2015
As the number of people fleeing to Europe passes one million, Oxfam is calling on the international community to address what is a global crisis. The uncomfortable truth is that the conflicts and brutality fuelling refugee migration have grown in recent years to unprecedented levels.
Don't put border security before safety of people
Oxfam is dismayed by the results of the European summit, which has strengthened a security-led approach to border control as the principal response of Europe to the plight of people arriving at its borders.


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Bethesda Unveils the Wolfenstein: The New Order Panzerhund Edition
Posted: 08:23AM
Author: ClayMeow
With its highly anticipated Wolfenstein: The New Order set to release in less than two months, Bethesda has announced a limited edition collection of goodies for the select few. Limited to 5,000 individually numbered editions, the Wolfenstein: The New Order Panzerhund Edition comes in a vintage footlocker-style box that measures approximately 20" x 10.5" x 8.5". Inside the box is a classified folder containing eleven classified documents, a hand-painted, 8" articulated Panzerhund statue made of high quality vinyl material (PVC and ABS), and a velvet-lined tray containing an exclusive Steelbook and a separate book containing fourteen full-color weathered-looking postcards of the game's alternate history. Beneath the tray reveals compartments housing a set of three high-quality, embroidered patches, and a box of custom molded replica dog tags.
All those goodies can be had for the price of $100, but one thing you won't be receiving with it is the actual game. Bethesda says it is doing it this way to ensure it can ship these boxes worldwide without having to wait on the game; though the estimated ship date is still May 20, 2014, like the game. On the bright side, it means fans can buy this Panzerhund Edition regardless of the platform they choose for the actual game – just keep in mind that the full price of this plus the game will set you back roughly $160.
Source: Press Release and Bethesda Store


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Try Not to Scream
Triple fear threat.
A dummy.
Has a dummy.
Who has a dummy.
Just walk silently backwards out of the room.
If you want to see more creepy goodness, check out snailbooty on flickr.
(via Spookshows.com)
I love the new blog look.
I love the new blog look. This is my first chance to see it and it's great. Those dummies remind me of someone ....
AAARGGH !!! x3
AAARGGH !!! x3
what a clever idea...and
what a clever idea...and creepy, in a clown sort of way...Hmmm...
Now that's what I call scary!
Now that's what I call scary!!! YIKES. :)
Post new comment


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What's On Sale
Baby Animal Songs [Album Download]
This charming album download features all the songs from our Baby Animal Songs video. Come along to The Petting Zoo, dance the Wooly Bully and sing along to Five Little Ducks. You'll want to play this collection of fabulously fun songs over and over again!Learn More$5.00


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What Happens When Beyoncé Photo-Bombs Your Selfie
Your entire life changes.
Don't you dare forget about Beyoncé! She's in our southern hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, etc.) doing things like remaining perfect while skydiving and, today, blowing up Tumblr by photo-bombing a fan's mid-concert selfie. "It was such a blur i just remember her bending down to me and my friend and i just turned for the photo and wowoowow it was the best moment ever," writes the 15-year-old on her blog. Also worth noticing: Beyoncé is photo-bombing one fan, while holding the hand of another, and all of this while also singing. Someone caught the entire thing on-camera from afar (and, thus, GIF'd it):
And here's the photo:


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Fracking: Coming to a City or Suburb Near You
Oil and Gas Drillers Have Sights Set on Fossil Fuel Deposits in Urban Areas
The controversial practice of fracking is just something that happens in the woods of Pennsylvania or the empty stretches of the Mountain West, right? … Right? Think again. Fracking, once a purely rural phenomenon, may be coming to a city or suburb near you.
Photo courtesy Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Ordinance
The practice of using thousand of gallons of water mixed with sand and caustic chemicals to shatter underground shale formations (the technical term is hydraulic fracturing) first gained notoriety in the dairy country of Pennsylvania and upstate New York. In addition to concerns about methane contamination of their water wells or the disposal of briny, slightly radioactive fracking wastewater, rural folks worried about how the natural gas rush was ruining their bucolic way of life . The drilling came with strange smells, noise pollution, light pollution from the illuminated well pads, and a dramatic increase in large truck traffic on backcountry roads. Deer hunters in Pennsylvania complained that drilling operations were ruining their autumn pastime. In Wyoming — a place famous for its long distance vistas — measurements of ground level ozone have been worse than smoggy Los Angeles due to the massive amounts of gas drilling. As an impressive investigative series on fracking by NPR demonstrated, many people who live next to fracking wells find the co-existence too close for comfort.
Now imagine those concerns translated to suburban or urban areas with much higher population densities. Geologic formations don't respect zoning ordinances, and some significant fossil fuel deposits are located underneath major cities. Parts of Cleveland sit above the gas reserves of the Devonian Shale, while Buffalo lies on top of the Utica Shale and Little Rock above the Fayetteville Shale. Oil and gas firms are, naturally, eager to tap into those deposits — and that's setting up a showdown with city residents who aren't enthusiastic about having a drilling pad for a neighbor.
See, for example, the turmoil in Los Angeles County, where a company called PXP is hoping to expand its fracking operations at the Inglewood oil field. The site isn't anything like the rustic woodlands of Pennsylvania. Located in an incorporated area between Culver City, Baldwin Hills, and View Park, the 1,100-acre spread is the largest urban oil field in the US. More than one million people live within five miles of the hundreds of wells there. The field's productivity had been on a steady decline until PXP started using fracking methods around 2003 to get at the estimated 50 percent of petroleum reserves that are inaccessible through more conventional drilling methods.
The practice went mostly unnoticed by area neighbors until January 10, 2006 — when a fracking accident at the Inglewood field released a cloud of toxic fumes and forced the evacuation of some residents of Baldwin Hills and Culver City. Last year, residents settled a lawsuit with PXP that, among other things, calls for closer air monitoring, noise abatement, and a reduction of the total number of wells from 600 to 500 by 2028.
But the settlement still allows for PXP to frack at least 30 new wells a year, and many neighbors remain nervous. One concerned resident is Paul Ferrazzi, a movie cameraman and Culver City resident who heads a group called Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community. When asked why he is worried about increased fracking at the Inglewood field, Ferrazzi rattled off what have become the usual criticisms of hydraulic fracturing: "ground and surface water contamination ... the use of large amounts of the precious resource of water in drought-prone California, the use of chemicals that are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors and possible airborne human exposure."
Ferrazzi has another worry that is an especially sensitive issue in California — "increased seismicity in a heavily faulted area." A recent study has demonstrated a connection between fracking and minor earthquakes, and has fueled LA area residents' concerns about how the Inglewood fracking could trigger a quake. The oil field is named for the Newport-Inglewood fault that bisects the area. According to FEMA, the fault is capable of generating a 7.4 magnitude earthquake. (In comparison, the last major earthquake in LA, the 1994 Northridge quake, measured 6.4 on the Ricther scale; 57 people died in that tremor, which caused about $20 billion in damage.)
A spokesperson for PXP declined to respond to Ferrazzi's concerns, and instead directed me to the website www.inglewoodoilfield.com to learn more about the company's plans.
Tupper Hull, a spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association (of which PXP is not a member) was more forthcoming. "Hydraulic fracturing is a technology that has been used in California for some 60 years," he told me. "It's been used principally for oil production. The technology is fundamentally no different [from gas drilling], but the scale and size can be different. In 60 years, no one has claimed or identified any environmental risk with hydraulic fracturing in California. That is the salient fact that people need to consider."
I asked Hull about the emerging science connecting fracking with increased seismic activity, and he said: "Well, again, for 60 years this activity has been going on, and no one has ever suggested it has caused an earthquake. The fact that some [seismic] activity has taken place in some areas with entirely different geology doesn't strike us as a compelling reason to launch some big campaign in California."
Hull was referring to an effort by the fracking critics at Food & Water Watch to ban the practice in California, just as Vermont recently did. California officials are in the process of sifting through the various claims and counterclaims of fracking opponents and proponents. The state's Department of Conservation is hosting workshops across California this summer to take public comment on the practice of hydraulic fracturing and to help lawmakers rewrite the state's regulations covering the procedure.
As they reconsider the state's fracking regulations, California officials might want to look at the experience of Fort Worth, Texas — the epicenter of urban fracking.
The city of 740,000 people lies above the Barnett Shale, which some experts have called the largest onshore natural gas field in the United States. Today the city is home to at least 1,400 natural gas wells; drilling companies have received permits for another 498 wells that are not yet in operation. Texas, of course, is the fossil fuel industry's home base. But even there, it seems, people like their drilling wells at a comfortable distance, and gas rush has led to a surprising backlash.
Photo courtesy Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Ordinance
"What was once a very nice town, much quieter and more easy going than Dallas, has become an industrial town, and it's driving people away in droves," said Don Young, a life-long resident who founded a group called Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Ordinance. When he's not agitating against the gas companies, Young, 60, makes stained glass windows for churches. "Living in Fort Worth has become intolerable. This is a big, heavy industrial operation. There's no nice way to do it. There's no way to drill safely, in my opinion, especially in the middle of a city."
Young says he has two main worries about the gas boom: the way in which the network of drilling pads, pipelines and compressor stations have impacted Fort Worth's limited amounts of open space, and drilling's impact on air quality. Fort Worth has never been known for its pristine air — the larger Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area routinely ranks as one of the American Lung Association's worst cities for ground level ozone (or smog). Last year ozone levels in the region spiked dramatically, and there were more than 30 days when the area violated federal ozone standards. Fort Worth also has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the state; about 18 percent of children there suffer from the chronic ailment. Scientists have demonstrated clear links between ozone levels and asthma rates.
Another Fort Worth critic of the gas rush, Gary Hogan, a former member of the city's Gas Drilling Task Force, was spurred to anti-fracking activism after a well was drilled 600 feet behind his home. Hogan calls Fort Worth "an urban experiment in gas drilling" and says one of his biggest worries is how to protect public safety amid so many industrial sites. "I will never believe that doing this gas drilling in a dense urban environment — with all the infrastructure and risk factors it comes with, the potential for explosions in neighborhoods — is safe," he said.
Fort Worth's drilling regulations mandate that well pads be at least 600 feet from homes. But drilling companies can apply for a variety of waivers, and Hogan says some wells are as close as 200 or 300 feet from people's houses. "The setbacks are totally ridiculous," Hogan said.
Similar fears about protecting public safety were a driving force behind Pittsburgh's 2010 ordinance banning fracking in the city limits. "Our firefighters are not trained to deal with a [gas] well fire," former Pittsburg City Councilman Doug Shields, who sponsored the fracking moratorium ordinance, told me in an interview earlier this year for a separate story. "The mayor, Luke Ravenstahl, had been a big supporter of [the gas industry.] When I introduced the legislation, he issued a statement saying the city would prepare for pollution, well fires, and other disasters. My response was, 'I'd rather not.'"
Fort Worth fracking opponents say that other communities should beware of gas companies who come into a city promising a big payday. Few homeowners cash out Beverly Hillbillies-style, they warn, especially when gas prices are at record lows. "We were sold a bill of goods," Hogan said. "There is no money in this for people who live on residential lots. There is no reason to get involved with this right now anyway, because the return on what you are going to make is nothing."
Before hanging up the phone, he told me: "People need to ask themselves: Do you really want to end up with a gas well behind your house?' Because I know what it's like. It's not worth it to sacrifice your neighborhood. You really don't want to do this."
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I am in the same neighborhood and this seemed to be done quietly. Now the government is turning on people's lives for money.
By artie on Sun, January 20, 2013 at 11:17 pm
Public meeting regarding hydraulic fracturing in California with officials from the Department of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources
Rally: 5:30pm
In front of California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA) Building
1001 I St., Sacramento
Public Meeting: 7:00pm
Byron Sher Auditorium
California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal EPA) Building
1001 I St., Sacramento
By Amy on Fri, July 20, 2012 at 10:25 am
I've been aware of fracking in rural areas but your exploration of urban areas is very helpful. I had heard rumors of fracking coming to the SF/Oakland bay area (?) Thanks for all your great work Jason!
By Lisa Rudman on Tue, June 05, 2012 at 6:14 pm
If this were the late 60's or the early 70's, we'd be out there protesting these sights, preventing the truck from getting in & out, and going to jail for disorderly conduct. But these sights would be on TV, and the public would have been aware of it before it was too late. I watched three of these go up around my neighborhood in the last few years, not knowing exactly what they were. One around the 1600 block of Sycamore School Road, and one around the 9700 block of Old Burleson Road, and another way out farther south around HWY 917, I can't remember exactly where, it's been some years ago. Ahh, the power of money. Have we totally distroyed the planet yet? I wonder, does anybody really care anymore?
By David Howland on Sun, June 03, 2012 at 5:41 am


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CAMBRIDGE, UK – Mar. 29, 2004 – ARM [(LSE:ARM); (Nasdaq:ARMHY)], the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions, announced today at ElectronicaUSA/Embedded Systems Conference, San Francisco, that Philips Semiconductors has licensed the MBX R-S graphics accelerator core, which is based on the PowerVR MBX 3D graphics solution from Imagination Technologies, for use in Philips's next-generation mobile applications processor. Philips will pair the MBX R-S core from ARM with a previously licensed ARM926EJ-S™ microprocessor core.
"Our experience in developing applications processors that incorporate ARM® microprocessor cores gave us the confidence to expand that relationship into MBX technology," said Gert-Jan Kaat, senior vice president of Mobile Communications, Philips Semiconductors. "In addition, our developments in the area of product integration gives us considerable time-to-market advantages."
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Imagination Technologies' PowerVR MBX IP uses the unique PowerVR tile-based rendering solution, which enables a very small die to deliver higher performance and higher image quality with lower power consumption. The MBX R-S graphics accelerator from ARM targets wireless devices that require a programmable resolution of up to QVGA.
About ARM
ARM is the industry's leading provider of 16/32-bit embedded RISC microprocessor solutions. The company licenses its high-performance, low-cost, power-efficient RISC processors, peripherals, and system-chip designs to leading international electronics companies. ARM also provides comprehensive support required in developing a complete system. ARM's microprocessor cores are rapidly becoming a volume RISC standard in such markets as portable communications, hand-held computing, multimedia digital consumer and embedded solutions. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com
ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited ARM926EJ-S is a trademark of ARM Limited. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)]; its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan; ARM France SAS; ARM Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; and ARM Belgium N.V.
MBX and PowerVR MBX is licensed to ARM by Imagination Technologies.


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Here's a riddle: What is both unlimited and unknowable? Answer: the future. It's true for people, and it's true for companies. In 1926, when Roy H. Long opened his real estate agency, he couldn't imagine it would not only still be in business 90 years later but that it would be the dominant and still-growing agency in Southern Arizona.
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In the early years, Long Realty evolved as Tucson and Southern Arizona grew. Over time, the company added staff and sales associates, won new clients, and expanded its market share and service area. Roy Long believed the best way to care for his company was to care for his customers. Echoing that principle is the modern company's commitment to building long-lasting relationships by creating exceptional real estate experiences. Different language, same ideas: fair dealing, honesty, never settling for "good enough." Being an engaged member of the community. That ethic built a solid base for Long Realty's phenomenal growth.
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- The same year, the company added its first franchised location, in Benson. There were more to come; 2009 was a big year, when the company expanded its footprint in Phoenix and Mexico by adding multiple franchised locations. Today, Long Realty Company has over 1,200 licensed real estate sales associates in 36 offices, including 21 affiliate realty and property management companies.
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This is my third post for the great 2012 Caine Prize blogathon. (See my first post for some details.)
My initial response to "Love on Trial" by Stanley Kenani (PDF) was: This is a terrible story. Preachy, obvious, awkward, tedious.
But then I thought about a letter I wrote to one of my college teachers back in the '90s, when people still wrote letters.
I had transferred from New York University after putting in three years toward a BFA in Dramatic Writing, and was now an English major at the University of New Hampshire. There were a few reasons for my transfer, mostly have to do with money, with a sense of disillusionment with the world of New York theatre, and with a crisis in confidence in my abilities as a writer of much of anything, dramatic or not. I got involved with the student theatre group at UNH and was cast as the lead in Paul Rudnick's play Jeffrey. I was coming to this after having spent three years trying to write the most obscure, abstract, confrontational, and bizarre theatre I could imagine. I had also spent a lot of time exploring various ideas of sexuality. My favorite teacher had been an avant-garde playwright and actor who often wrote difficult, complex, and sometimes sexually-explicit plays and monologues, generally from a very queer sensibility. I remembered him saying something in class about Jeffrey as a shallow play, or a reactionary play, or something like that. (He was a very kind and gentle fellow, and I think that's why I remembered his comment, or at least the general import of his comment: Jeffrey is not a good play.)
Our production of Jeffrey was, as far as anybody knew, the first gay play to be performed at UNH, and certainly the first play to be performed there with an opening scene in which men are in bed together talking about condoms, sex, etc. We easily sold out all of the performances and I've never, before or since, experienced the same sense of a community needing a particular piece of theatre so much. It was very much the right show at the right time in the right place.
And so that's what I wrote to my teacher. It was a revelation for me — it wasn't, I said, that Jeffrey is necessarily a bad play, but rather that it is a play that needs particular sorts of audiences, and the work it will do is different depending on those audiences. For a downtown New York theatre crowd, it's really not much. For the University of New Hampshire in the fall of 1997, it was just the catalyst necessary for all sorts of conversations that had been festering beneath the surface of the university's culture. (My teacher replied that he thought it was a very good insight, and also highlighted one of the unique virtues of the theatre: people enacting stories for each other in a specific place at a specific time.)
Which brings me back to Kenani's story, and not just because it, too, is about men who have sex with each other. (Basic plot: a local drunk in a Malawian village stumbles upon two young men having sex in a bathroom. The event becomes a national news story, the one man who can be identified is put on trial and sentenced to jail, and a TV news reporter has a long interview with him in which the young man expresses no shame in his gay identity and argues with the interviewer about the Bible, etc. Western countries find out what happened and impose economic sanctions on Malawi, causing much hardship across the country, including for the drunk who now can't afford alcohol and so has the DTs, as well as HIV, which he can't get medicine for because of sanctions.) I can imagine that there are probably audiences for whom this is a very good story — a story that dramatizes various perspectives on homosexual behavior, and ends with a sort of fable that suggests ignoring threats to the lives of people different from yourself is not, in the end, a winning strategy.
As a reader of this story, I'm in a similar position to that of a chic, über-post-postmodernist downtown New York audience watching Jeffrey. The central section of the story, the interview, feels to me like a Cliff's Notes version of Heather Has Two Mommies.
But as readers we sometimes need to get over ourselves. The sorts of questions and answers in the interview may seem embarrassingly basic to me, but they are also ones I've heard all my life, and ones that could be, for all I know, entirely plausible within the setting of the story. (I know very little about Malawi, sadly.) None of the arguments made by the interviewer are exotic, none of them require anything other than a certain type of religiosity and a certain type of ignorance. Neither is in short supply throughout the world. (Sometimes, too, the religiosity is just a camouflage. I vividly remember my own childhood feelings against what my father called "the queeries" being founded on the idea that the Bible said it was an abomination. Despite the fact that I and my father, from whom I'd gotten this idea, were not at all religious and never resorted to the Bible for any other information. For both of us, the argument covered a deep homophobia: in myself, from fear and confusion over my own nascent desires; for him ... well, I don't know. But he hated nothing and no-one more than gay men. They were the only monsters worse than anti-gun liberals.)
Perhaps I should try instead to make the best case I can for the story. To argue against my initial feelings and perceptions, which are, I know from experience, sometimes untrustworthy.
The argument I would find most convincing in this story's favor would be one that reconfigured its didactic elements, because it is the didacticism that I respond most forcefully against. I do not like fiction that tries to teach me lessons, not because I think fiction has no ethical power, but because didacticism short-circuits the ethical strengths available to fiction as a form.
From such a view, then, the interview would exist in the story not to convey to us an argument, not to appeal to our compassion for the character of Charles and his plight, not to convince us that homosexuals, in fact, deserve respect — but rather, the interview would exist for its inherent dramatic qualities. The story would then more be about the power of surveillance, curiosity, ignorance, and the power of media than it would be about The Value Of Being Nice To The Homosexuals. Instead, what we should look at in the story is the way one of the least respected people in a village is able to manipulate the village's vulgar curiosities and ignorance to his own advantage, and then how his advantage becomes the TV's station's advantage, and how the situation fuels the arrogant pride of the self-righteous throughout the country, but then how all of this ends up having terrible effects for just about everyone involved. (Though why it has terrible effects is worth noticing, too: Not because, from your own perspective, it is bad to punish homosexual behavior, but rather because rich countries may not like it if you do so, and they will punish your little, vulnerable country in response.)
The story remains didactic, but more complicatedly so in that interpretation.
If all of this feels like strained justification ... well, it is. Nothing is going to make me see this as a good work of fiction, even if I can imagine that there is an audience somewhere that could value it. Didacticism, after all, doesn't have to destroy a story. Kurt Vonnegut's work is profoundly didactic, but it's also, at its best, complex and a heck of a lot of fun to read. There is just nothing in "Love on Trial" that I can see to offer any readerly pleasure. No particular depth of thought to set our philosophizing minds a-spinning. Flat attempts at humor. Straightforward, functional, reporterly prose that not only offers little aesthetic pleasure but also keeps us generally distanced from the characters, so we don't have any of the pleasures of detailed characterization. As with the didacticism, no one of these elements is at all a guarantee of a bad piece of fiction, but all of them together pretty much doom it in comparison to more lively, skilled, and complex work.
One of the negative effects of the Caine Prize is that it sometimes puts too great a burden on stories that can't bear such a burden. The Caine Prize stories gain an international audience. They are no longer merely stories. By being nominated for The! Caine Prize! for African! Writing!, they suddenly must bear the burden of being seen as Exemplary African Stories by all sorts of different audiences.
Most stories from anywhere can't bear such burdens. "Love on Trial" certainly can't, and it's unfortunate the Caine Prize judges thought it could.
Other bloggers on "Love on Trial":
Method to the Madness
Stephen Derwent Partington
Backslash Scott
Black Balloon
City of Lions
Practically Marzipan


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