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Release Date: 1985 |
Album Rating: 3.5good review but make sure to add space though
How did this not already have a review? Auto pos for reviewing.
That being said, this album is not that great. Black Flag is not that great.
" Black Flag is not that great."
The Nervous Breakdown EP has something to show you...
Wow, you're right! That 5-minute EP sure converted me!
black flag rule
Digging: Armoros - Pieces
Damaged is pretty good, and I like the spoken word half of Family Man. Everything else is either mediocre or straight up awful.
my war dude!
nothing left inside crushes
Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Offalbum is super underrated. i agree about the production, way too 80s sounding drum sound. my favorite is My War. also, add paragraphs
Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound OffAccidently duplicated, delete this.
Album Rating: 3.5How the fuck did this not have a review until now
Album Rating: 4.5Added space, hope it reads easier…thanks for the critiques y'all!
I hear voices when no one's around, silent voices that NO ONE CAN SEE
Album Rating: 4.0this 3.4 average is pathetic
Album Rating: 4.5Agreed, SkaCali
Album Rating: 3.5My target is your eyes
Some of this is badass but my God most of the songs are too long
Digging: Travis Scott - Astroworld
Album Rating: 4.5this is the best Flag IMO
my war is tops
Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Offmy war is goat
Album Rating: 4.0this could have been a classic with better drumming
Digging: Tim Buckley - Starsailor
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


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Christina Hendricks Joins Chris Colfer's Struck by Lightning
Dermot Mulroney and Sarah Hyland of 'Modern Family,' too.
Chris Colfer's indie comedy Struck by Lightning has added three familiar faces to its cast: Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, and Sarah Hyland have all signed on. Colfer wrote and will star in the movie, which follows a character who's fatally struck by lightning and tells his story in flashbacks. Allison Janney is also in the cast, which makes this movie pretty much an Emmy-nominee bacchanalia. [Deadline]

subset: commoncrawl


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Frances Elizabeth Wilson, 86, of Milford, died Dec. 13, 2006. She was a homemaker.
She was preceded in death by son, Joseph Wilson.
She is survived by daughters, Nancy Carter, Darlene Kiefer, Dorothy McCreary, and Karen Schoen; sisters, Elizabeth and Dorothy; brother, Joseph; 14 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Dec. 16 at the Evans Funeral Home in Goshen. Interment followed at the Rest Haven Cemetery in Blue Ash.


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Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has accused some officials in Russia of maintaining imperialistic dreams about taking over his country. The Georgian leader spoke out on the topic during an official visit to Britain.
President Saakashvili held talks in London Tuesday with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to analyze the military tensions between Russia, Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Mr. Saakashvili told a news conference the situation has been aggravated by some Russian officials who, he says, are harboring imperialistic designs on his country.
"Some elements in Moscow are carrying out some aggressive plans, and not only plans, but they are carrying out aggressive actions and these are the people who have not dropped their imperial dreams and ambitions," he said.
He also accused commanders of Russian peacekeeping forces in the breakaway Russian-speaking enclave of South Ossetia of arming local rebels.
For his part, Foreign Secretary Straw said Britain is doing what it can to mediate a peaceful solution.
"This is a sensitive issue for both sides and what we are supporting is efforts to resolve the issues of bilateral tension between Russia, an independent and sovereign country, and Georgia, an independent sovereign country, in a peaceful and sensible way," he said.
Tensions flared in South Ossetia in May when Georgian troops entered the region, which has been effectively independent since 1992.
In recent days, South Ossetian forces have detained several Georgian policemen, Georgia has seized Russian rockets and trucks, and there have been incidents of gunfire and border blockades.
The Russian defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, who is also visiting London, told a security conference Tuesday the situation in South Ossetia has become "volatile and explosive."


text: 03 November 2010Multi-talented creative powerhouse Jane Fonda isn't taking her seventies slowly - the star is making a comeback, and a little cosmetic surgery has helped boost her confidence too. While Jane decided to make a pact against cosmetic procedures back in 2000, she says she eventually became tired of looking in the mirror and not recognising herself. She's since admitted to having work done on her chin, neck and eyes. Appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Jane said: "I look more like how I feel. I'm glad I did it."iVillage also reports the star explained that perfectionism was not her aim when it came to plastic surgery. In fact, she said that letting go of "a toxic desire to try and be perfect" in various aspects of her life was the key to her happinessJane first announced her surgery choices back in February, when she said she'd had eye bag removal as well as treatments to reduce the appearance of wrinkles on her face and neck. However, the sassy star revealed the truth in a typically tongue-in-cheek way, when she told the Daily Express: �I just had some work done on my chin and neck and had the bags taken away from under my eyes so I decided it would be a good idea to get a new haircut so people will think it�s my new hair.� The actress, who is now 72 tried to retire back in the early 90s, but hit the big screen again in 2005 with Monster in Law. She's also dedicated much of her time to political activism throughout the years.


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NEW YORK --Authorities collected nearly 100 fire arms, including an AR-15 assault rifle, at a gun buyback on Staten Island.
The Staten Island district attorney's office and New York City police say Saturday they collected the assault rifle along with 33 semi-automatic pistols, 40 revolvers, 13 rifles, a shotgun and eight other weapons.
The buyback took place at the Calvary Presbyterian Church. Authorities say four of the 96 fire arms were loaded and three were defaced.
Police say anyone who turned in a handgun or assault rifle was given a $200 bank card. Those who turned in rifles and shotguns were given $20 bank cards.
Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan told the Staten Island Advance (http://bit.ly/1boN3oW) fewer guns mean safer streets.


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Calcium How Much is Too Much? - Ask Dr. Weil
What are the side effects of too much calcium? It is OK to use calcium supplements containing vitamin D. In fact, I recommend taking 2,000 IU.
Is 4,000 mg of calcium daily excessive? Does this regime help control high blood pressure? What are the side effects of too much calcium?
The Weil Vitamin Advisor Get your FREE personalized vitamin recommendation & supplement plan today!
Andrew Weil, M.D. Calcium carbonate is more easily available and less expensive but not as well absorbed. It is OK to use calcium supplements containing vitamin D. Along with your calcium supplements, be sure to take magnesium (half the dose of your calcium supplement); without it you may find that the calcium is constipating. Of the many calcium supplements available, I recommend calcium citrate, because it is more easily assimilated than other forms, especially by older people with less stomach acid. In fact, I recommend taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D a day to insure proper absorption and use of calcium.
Weil's Spontaneous Happiness Achieve emotional well-being in just eight weeks! Start your 10-day free trial now!. Dr.
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We all need calcium to regulate nerve and muscle functions and build strong bones. If you're taking 4,000 mg of calcium per day, you're taking much too much, and I urge you to reduce the amount immediay. You can get adequate amounts from your diet if you eat a lot of cooked greens (collards have most), molasses, sesame seeds, broccoli, and tofu (be sure to read package labels to make sure calcium was used in its preparation), as well as calcium-fortified soy milk, orange juice and, of course, dairy products.
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Weight-bearing aerobic exercise (walking, jogging or aerobics) and weight lifting should be part of your prevention program. For women who don't think they are getting enough of these foods, I recommend a supplement of 500 to 700 mg daily in divided doses with meals. Avoid soda, excessive caffeine intake, and smoking, all of which promote calcium loss in the urine. Because high protein diets also cause bones to lose calcium, keep your daily protein intake low (limit it to no more than 10 to 15 percent of total calories). Women concerned about osteoporosis should be aware that supplemental calcium alone will not correct the problem, which is related to heredity, lifestyle and diet, and is accelerated by hormonal changes at menopause.
Most of us get all the potassium we need from fresh fruits (especially bananas) and vegetables. (Don't take potassium supplements unless a doctor has prescribed them.) Taking too much calcium (three to four times the usual dose) can lead to such side effects as constipation, dry mouth, a continuing headache, increased thirst, irritability, loss of appetite, depression, a metallic taste in the mouth, and fatigue. An adequate daily intake of calcium (1,000-1,200 mg) along with magnesium and potassium works to control blood pressure by helping to regulate the amount of sodium your body retains.
Weil's essential vitamin facts. Learn why they are necessary and more. Vitamin Library Supplement your knowledge with Dr.
Start eating for your health - begin your free trial now. Weil on Healthy Aging Your Online Guide to the Anti-Inflammatory Diet. Dr.


text: Well known as protective crystals, all varietyies of Tourmaline also transmute negative energies into positive ones. This clears the way for compassion & inspiration to take root & spread through your energy bodies. Try carrying a piece of Tourmaline with you throughout the day to support these qualities in your life.


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And therein lies the rub. There is no security. No real security, at least on this earth. That's the crux of the post-Sept. 11 paradox: How does one "live" in the knowledge that tomorrow is not promised, while still appreciating the time we do have?
There's a simple answer to that dilemma for many. "We need to stay prayed up," a friend recently said to me. "We don't have any control over what's going on right now, all we can do is put it in God's hands." Blessed assurance is heavenly insurance. I've known that for a minute now, so I step careful, and live prayerful for each lungful of life I breath in. But even then, I'm left to contend with the affairs of men. The anxious, shell-shocked days of mid-September are gone. The immediacy of the ground zero rescue spectacle has faded as surely as the prospects for survivors after those first grim weeks. The tenuous, pre-war tension has likewise abated, as the fated revenge missiles now shower down upon Afghanistan, ushering in a new rainy season for a people already soaked beyond saturation from two decades of civil war and the U.S.-Soviet trickle-down military policies.
On the home front, following some bizarre and macabre script, terror arrives anew, in the form of an innocuous everyday ritual--opening the mail. Amid the uncertainty, the nation shakily walks the line between panic and prudence. Resolute and reassuring, the president all but issues an executive order commanding the American people to "Go on 'bout y'all business."
And I'm at the fair trying to figure that out. Dag. They done raised the price of the ride tickets and it takes more tickets to ride now. This is new-school patrioti$m. Uncle Sam Wants YOU ... to spend some money, take a vacation, purchase some durable goods and cheer for the stock market. Go Team!
Folks at the fair seem happy enough. I'm wondering if they are in any way apprehensive about being part of such a large crowd of targets--I mean, people? If their minds wander and then stick for an instant on the possibility that some psycho with a backpack full of C-4 will find the ferris wheel to be an appropriate place for an emphatic political statement?
Nah. They don't seem shook like that. I sniff the autumn air and detect the odd mixture of pony manure and sausage and onions and candy apples and fried dough--but not fear. The faces we see are ordinary fair faces. The smiles are infectious. The throng is beautifully diverse, as Asian, black, white and Latino folk amble about the midway, forming a colorful collage. I spot what I assume to be a few Muslim families (the women are clad in hajib, traditional dress), and no one seems to be bothering them. That's real cool. Walking and holding my kids' hands, I relish the contact and allow myself to think on this bright day, that this is a snapshot of America at her best.
Of course, every day ain't a day at the fair. In the real world, folks are struggling with what "normal" means nowadays and trying to comprehend that there's no such thing as homeland security. Meanwhile, the illusion of security, sold at the price of freedom, is being peddled to us at a tremendous markup over pre-Sept. 11 prices. You think you're making a good purchase? Wait until you get home and see the Anti-Terrorism Bill."Aww, man, the salesman was so smooth, I didn't know that I'd end up spending all of the First and Fourth Amendments. Uhh, can a brother get a refund?"
As the pundits and powers that be ponder the merits of reviving racial profiling (if it ever went out of style), I wonder if enough time has passed for me to respectfully observe that if the terrorists had been black women, the tragedies of Sept. 11 wouldn't have happened. Well, at least not if they'd been among the more than 200 black women who were strip- and cavity-searched on suspicion of drug smuggling at O'Hare airport in Chicago with no cause. (They've since filed a class action suit).
In the interests of national unity and unanimity, I'll go on record as being in favor now of universal cavity searches, at shopping malls, schools, restaurants--everywhere. In addition to the precipitous rise in our collective security, just think of the boost we'll give to the latex glove industry.
I guess that's as absurd as the folks now buying gas masks in droves from Army surplus stores. But on the other hand, you can be too cool. Like the post office execs in Washington, D.C., who didn't aggressively test their workers for anthrax in what I can only assume was an effort to keep the public calm. Now that's a tragic irony. They smooth-talked about the risks to postal workers, although the anthrax-ridden letter to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle obviously came through the mail. Meanwhile, members of the House of Representatives were so spooked, they abandoned their building before any anthrax was even found there. And two postal workers are now dead who may have been saved.
Which brings up another concern. As the bombs drop and fears of more terrorist attacks persist, there's a growing gap between the outlook of our leaders, who seem to be in favor of changing the national anthem to Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry, Be Happy, and the people, who'll evacuate buildings and head for the hills at the sight of some crushed aspirin. As the needle of American public sentiment oscillates between paranoia and providence, just how much worrying is justified by these times?
At the State Fair, we buy some funnel cakes. I have to admit that watching the lady give our food a liberal dusting of powdered sugar is a bit unsettling. As I always do, I blow the excess sugar off of my pastry, careful to stand upwind as I watch the little particles waft off into the afternoon air. No, I don't think for a minute that al-Qaeda has operatives in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. But as I bite into my cake, I can't help but feel that the current official response to threatened homeland security (wash your hands after opening the mail) are as unrealistic as the old "duck and cover" propaganda films in which the government tried to delude schoolchildren and adults into thinking they could survive a nuclear blast by assuming the position under the table.
And speaking of assuming the position, the recent passage in the House of a $100 billion (and that's only the first year's cost, it's actually much more expensive) economic stimulus package is a reminder that right now, the financial security of Americans is at much higher risk than our physical security. This package is different from an earlier $75 billion emergency spending bill that included a bailout of the airline industry (which gets a hefty infusion of tax dollars without any compulsion to rehire any of the 100,000 workers that were laid off in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks). The current $100 billion is a "stimulus package," comprised largely of tax breaks that benefit big corporations and the wealthiest 10 percent of the population.
Tax breaks are important because we can't afford more spending. Okayyyy. We don't want the government to spend any more money, so instead, we'll drastically reduce the amount that comes in. (Have these guys ever taken basic algebra?). The economy was in recession prior to Sept. 11, and the number of jobless people since then has dramatically increased. Will we help these people to make it? Enable them to pay their rents? Extend their health-care benefits? No. But we'll give some of them an additional $350 in tax rebates, and if they ever regain employment, they'll be funding for years into the future the Capital Gains Tax and other current examples of corporate largesse. The message is clear: American workers, bend over and prepare to be stimulated by the post-Sept. 11 finance package.
It's getting dark now. We finish the funnel cake as we reach the gate. I think, just getting up this morning with my family intact was a blessing. And if all this ends before my next breath, I've still been blessed. I haven't lost any loved ones. I still have a job. And I can go to bed reasonably sure that a stray cluster bomb won't hit the crib.
So I guess worries and fears are as much for others as they are for myself. And that's really the crux of life, post-Sept. 11: Will Americans, through our fear and grief, come to understand that this sad and anxious state is exactly what life is like for a lot of people all over the world, all the time? Will we recognize that the "don't worry, be happy" ethos that the government is using to smooth over our current fears is the same mentality that leaves us deaf to the suffering of others at home and around the globe? And more importantly, will we do anything to change all that?
Non-profits are just innocuous little entities existing in their own isolated corner of the economy. They do not hurt the …
My mother wasn't able to have kids after her second, me being the first so she chose adoption agencies chicago …
Non-profits are just innocuous little entities existing in their own isolated corner of the economy. They do not hurt the …
My mother wasn't able to have kids after her second, me being the first so she chose adoption agencies chicago …
no, the 'wise latina' issue didn't come up at all during the hearings.
lol. this is textbook trolling (@jdebonzo) ignore the whole article, why dontcha?
her 'thesis' was explaining how her life experience …
It's amazing how this point is a complete lie. Out of context? Have you read this speech? Her words on …


text: Athens was one of the biggest and most important cities in ancient Greece, known for their thriving culture and intellectual population. There is another city called Athens in Georgia that Wonder Woman briefly visited. Supergirl worked at an experimental school called New Athens in Florida. There is also a Titan Seed named Athyns, who inhabited New Cronus.


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Ladies, we know what our nails mean to our overall beauty and well-being. However, nail salons make most of us quite uncomfortable. Well, without sounding biased most of us don't like the thought of going out to just have our nails done. If you are in Cambridge your predicament is well understood. Most of us are busy with a plethora of activities, schedules and chores to attend to. So you might have wondered whether engaging the services of a nail technician that come to your home is really the best option. There are compelling reasons that have seen many others who were in similar dilemma opt for this approach to having their nails done. Consider the following:
Time saving
You don't have a lot of spare time to hop from one beauty shop to the next looking for a nail technician. In the midst of all the responsibilities that await you, such a venture is seemingly untenable. It would cost you too much time. In any case there is no guarantee that when you visit these salons the technicians will be readily available to attend to you promptly. You are not an emergency! Having the expert come to your home will ensure you spend the least time on this vital beauty undertaking.
Cost saving
There are numerous ways you can save costs by inviting the nail expert to your home. For one, you don't have to spend a dime traveling to the beauty salon. The technician will come at her own cost. Secondly, when business at the salons is low you can negotiate for lower prices for the intended service. No technician will deny a lower but reasonable offer when business is down at the salon.
Customised service
Once the nail technician lands at your home you gain the advantage of getting customised service. You don't have to worry about the glares and stares of strangers as you give instructions about what you feel is the perfect nail work for you. No matter how unconventional or creative your style is, the crowd out there will have to wait until you step out for them to make their comments, if at all they will.
Working relationship
The technicians visit tones down formalities. At home, your relationship becomes more than just client and expert. An atmosphere for friendship is bound to develop and in the process the technician and by extension the beauty salon will get to understand your unique requirements. At the end of the day it will be a win-win relationship.
With all these benefits you have some of the compelling reason to have a nail technician come to your home every time you need her services.


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"After seeing the image of an LRR [low reflectivity ribbon] from the Center for Severe Weather Research that you referenced in the sidebar of that article, I noticed that the area of light rain and small raindrops resembled a massive airfoil. Do you think that the LRR could be having a similar effect as that of a super-efficient airfoil? "
"Also, remembering the vortices created by jumbo jets at takeoff and landing, do you think that a related phenomenon could be at work in the airfoil-like LRRs?"
I passed the question on to Josh Wurman, one of the scientists who is leading the VORTEX 2 experiment and who told me about the LRR.
He responded: "The LRR is only very recently discovered. Scientists do not know what causes it, or if it plays an important role in how the thunderstorm evolves or if it makes tornadoes.
"Tom Walker's idea is interesting, but doesn't seem on the right track to me. An airfoil is a material object that deflects air. The LRR is not material; if anything, it has less non-gaseous material than surrounding areas since it is an area of light precipitation surrounded by much more intense precipitation. Since the LRR is not material, it is unlikely to be deflecting air, so is unlikely to be producing any wake-like vortices."
Wurman also told me that he and others are now writing papers for scientific journals about the LRR and these will certainly lead to discussions and hypotheses about what causes the phenomenon and whether it has any effect on supercells. Possibily this could lead to the answer to the big question Wurman has about the LRR: "Does this affect tornadoes, or is it like a rainbow, scientifically cool but with no effect on the weather?"


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Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service Registration# CH31691
Online credit card donations provide direct and immediate support, and they greatly diminish our administrative time and cost. It is also the most environmentally-friendly way to give! Please consider a monthly pledge, which ensures our ability to feed and help people all year long. Free Donation Pick-up in Apopka Thrift Store in Apopka thrift shop
Your donations of clothing, furniture, appliances and other household items are what make it possible for the St. Vincent de Paul to assist our neighbors in need. Your donations enable us to offer low-cost clothing, furniture and household items for sale (or gift, if the recipient cannot afford to pay for them). Our Store sales help fund the programs and services we provide to those in need.
Instead of selling, trading or storing your vehicle, you can donate it to St. Vincent de Paul Orlando. In return, you will receive a tax deduction. Proceeds from your vehicle donation help provide essential needs such as food, shelter, elderly care, medicines and much more.
One of the oldest charitable organizations in the world, St. Vincent de Paul Orlando is a Catholic lay organization of more than 690,000 men and women throughout the world who voluntarily join together to grow spiritually and offer person-to-person service to the needy and suffering in 150 countries on five continents. With the U.S. headquarters in St. Louis, MO, membership in the United States totals more than 146,000 in 4,600 communities.
Programs include Home Visits, housing assistance, disaster relief, job training and placement, food pantries, clothing, transportation and utility costs, care for the elderly and medicine. SVDP serves more than 14 million people in need each year, performs more than 644,000 visits to people in their homes, and delivers more than seven million service hours to those in need.
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The Dark Tower (PG-13)
Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Claudia Kim
Release Date: August 4, 2017
Runtime: 1 hr. 34 mins.
Genre: Action/Adventure, SciFi/Fantasy
There are other worlds than these. Stephen King's The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world's most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.Watch Trailer
The Dark Tower has been called Stephen King's magnum opus for a good reason. Spanning eight novels and needing well over one million words, the saga took more than 30 years to craft (the first volume was published in 1982 and the most recent in 2012) and boasts connections to many of the author's other works. A movie adaptation has been in the works for a decade but various iterations fell through as several producer/director combinations came and went. Eventually, however, the stars aligned and a film was born. Die-hard fans might have good reason to wish it hadn't been and non-initiated movie-goers probably won't be interested enough to care.
The Dark Tower isn't a bad movie even though there's a clumsiness to its narrative and a cheapness to its appearance. Instead, it would be better to call it superficial, uninspired, and forgettable. Although incorporating elements from King's novels, The Dark Tower is intended to be a sequel, spinning off from where the 2004 novel concluded. (Note: King has a producer credit but not a screenwriting one.) As a follow-up to an epic, The Dark Tower is decidedly small in both scope and execution. The story is generic with little of the mind-bending, quirky twists that made the books enjoyable. And, although King has stated that his inspirations for the series were The Lord of the Rings and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, there's not the faintest echo of Tolkien or Leone to be found here. Instead, director Nikolaj Arcel (whose 2012 Danish film, A Royal Affair, introduced the world to Alicia Vikander) has done his best to ape the B-movie sci-fi/fantasy films that studios shuttled out irregularly during the 1980s and 1990s.
Whatever budget Sony provided to the filmmakers appears to have been spent securing the rights and paying the salaries of the two leads. Beyond Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, the cast is comprised of lesser-known character actors, none of whom acquit themselves with distinction. The sets and special effects are far from cutting-edge. Scenes of energy weapons striking The Dark Tower resemble cutscenes from a video game circa 2010. The movie looks rushed, which is probably was, and appears to have been assembled more to cash in on the series' popularity than to advance the saga.
The story opens in modern-day New York City where a young teenager, Jake (Tom Taylor), is having visions of The Dark Tower, The Man in Black, and The Gunslinger. Fearing that he is mentally unstable, his mother, Laurie (Katheryn Winnick), sends him to an upstate clinic for testing. Realizing he is about to be kidnapped, Jake escapes and follows his visions to an abandoned house that contains a hidden portal. Entering it, he is transported to Mid-World, where he meets Roland Deschain a.k.a. The Gunslinger (Elba) and joins him on his quest to kill the nefarious sorcerer Walter o'Dim a.ka. The Man in Black (McConaughey). Simultaneously, Walter realizes that Jake is the boy he has been waiting for - someone with sufficient psychic power to destroy The Dark Tower, a monolith that protects the universe from the monsters that exist outside it.
The best thing about The Dark Tower is Elba, whose performance as Roland is good enough to make us wonder how good he might be in a straightforward Western. He has the toughness and gravitas necessary to establish an imposing figure (not unexpected based on his work in The Wire and Luther). Unfortunately, he's only a supporting member of The Dark Tower's cast; the script has inexplicably put the inexperienced and not always convincing Tom Taylor front-and-center. As for McConaughey, he's here for the paycheck, although he has fun hamming it up. He doesn't phone in the performance but no one is going to suggest him for an Oscar nomination.
The Dark Tower is short, barely making it past the 90-minute mark. The brevity, which would be welcomed in many films, feels like a cheat here. The intricacies of King's multiverse are only hinted at - so much that should be explored goes unmentioned and, as a result, aspects of The Dark Tower are hokey, incomprehensible, or both. The main narrative through-line is straightforward so at least there's no confusion about who the good guys are, who the bad guys are, and what happens when they meet at the end.
This isn't the first highly anticipated adaptation to fall flat but, after the success of The Hunger Games trilogy, there was reason to hope that care would be lavished on The Dark Tower. At one point, there were grand plans for this franchise - multiple films with at least one TV mini-series in between. Now, all we have is this production, and, judging by its quality and the anticipated tepid response, it's unlikely that anything further will be pursued. For many, reading The Dark Tower is a rich and rewarding experience. It may be hard to find anyone who will say the same thing about watching the movie.
© 2017 James Berardinelli
There are other worlds than these. Stephen King's The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world's most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.


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We couldn't be happier that our web design agency is growing at such a staggering rate. The S Corporation status is just one more example of our razor-sharp dedication to the growth of our business as well as our clientele's.
Past News ReleasesRSS
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) January 07, 2014
San Francisco web design agency Jeanette Kwok Web Design Inc. (JKWD) announces their new status as an S Corporation. Having received the approval letter June 13, 2013, the company's federal status brings a new sense of occasion to their daily efforts to optimally bring web design, content management and SEO services to clients both locally, in San Francisco and San Jose, as well as abroad. Jeanette Kwok, President and CEO of JKWD said of the newly granted status, "We couldn't be happier that our web design agency is growing at such a staggering rate. The S Corporation status is just one more example of our razor-sharp dedication to the growth of our business as well as our clientele's."
JKWD encompasses website design, web development, web maintenance and search engine optimization services. Their integral services make a business sure to be seen in what can be an extremely competitive marketplace. Taking a client all the way from the initial interview that discusses the objectives of the new website, its target market, competitors and branding guidelines, the San Francisco web design agency also tackles the budget, rate of completion and content expectations upon the first visit. Once the requirements are defined, a sitemap is built and a wireframe is composed to depict page layout, interface elements and navigational systems. Template and theme design, as well as development, for the website then brings new life to the process fully underway. Understanding that the bulk of business searches take place on mobile devices, JKWD will incorporate mobile web design and development to make their client's well-suited site navigable on smartphones if required.
Kwok adds, "In the technology space that we live in, a website is the calling card of a business. That means it has to be optimized to meet the demands of the competitive marketplace. We understand that process and we make the most of SEO and integral content." If an SEO package is purchased, the San Jose web design firm is careful to implement search-engine-friendly URLs and meta data such as title, description and H1 tags based on keyword research, Google's best practices and optimize each page's content. Holding the hand of their clients all the way through the creation of their website, the design agency in San Francisco checks and rechecks the design of the site by way of beta testing and an official launch. If the client requires regular web maintenance after the one week of free support post-launch, prepaid packages are available.
About Jeanette Kwok Web Design Inc.:
Jeanette Kwok Web Design is a full-service design agency with clients in the U.S., Canada and Europe that provides web design, SEO, mobile websites, social media marketing and web maintenance. The web design firm's web experts are proficient in Joomia, WordPress, Drupal and Majento.


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WJ III Clinical Use and Interpretation presents a wide variety of clinical applications of the WJ III from leading experts. Each chapter will provide the reader with insights into patterns of cluster and test scores from both the WJ III Tests of Cognitive Abilities and WJ III Tests of Achievement that can assist with interpretation and formulation of diagnostic hypotheses for clinical practice. WJ III Clinical Use and Interpretation provides expert guidance for using the WJ III with individuals with a broad array of learning and neuropsychological problems, including learning disabilities and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. New research included in this volume emphasizes the value of the WJ III for identification of gifted children and adolescents and young children with developmental delays. * Written by the leading experts on the WJ III * Coverage of both the Tests of Cognitive Abilities and Tests of Achievement * Provides expert guidance on using the WJ III with a variety of clinical populations * Includes new research and illustrative case studies * Goes beyond interpretive material published in the Examiner's Manuals and other resource booksSummaryaAchievement Measures Billa#39;s academic and oral language skills were assessed with the WJ III ACH (19 of 22 tests ... He was also asked to write a spontaneous essay under timed conditions. ... or capitalization, where his proficiency was average (Writing Fluency RPI = 90/90; Writing Samples RPI = 94/ 90).
|WJ-III Clinical Use and Interpretation
|Fredrick Allen Schrank
|Academic Press - 2003
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Brethren Of The Free Spirit
The Wolf Also Shall Dwell With The Lamb
imprec222 cd/lp
LP is limited to 500 copies. The first 100 are on white vinyl.Click on the record cover for an image of the vinyl version. CD version is packaged in a digipack.
Brethren of the Free Spirit are guitarist/composer James Blackshaw and lutenist/composer Jozef van Wissem. Named after a cult of 13th-century Northern European religious heretics this duo play with an appropriately zealous intensity. Brethren of the Free Spirit debuted in New York and went on a crusade through the Lowlands, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and London even apearing On the Dutch National VPRO TV show ''Vrije Geluiden." Intricate phrases circle and spiral in on themselves, and in the end it''s the subtle shifts in rhythm and tonal coloration that provide a kind of transcendence in a sea of repetition.
The Wolf Shall Also... was recorded at Locksley Hall, Amsterdam in April 2008. It considest of 4 long circular compositions in which the duo employ all methods of contemporary performace styles to free the lute and merge the two instruments. Intentionally recorded in mono it''s ocasionally impossible to tell the two instruments apart. Perhaps that''s just what makes this duo so successfull - the players and the instruments become unified in historical references to the musics of both the ancient lute contemporary acoustic guitar. For example, Into The Dust Of The Earth is based on a classical baroque lute prelude from the 1650 by an anonymous composer. The theme is mirrored midway turning the piece into a palindrome, updating the material in the process. Blackshaw weaves his 12 string tapestry hypnotically intertwining the lute and the guitar into one modern piece of ancient tunage bringing the lute into the present day.
The drawings on the cover by Belgian brethren Wouter Van Haelemeesch reference greek myths as well as medieval alchemical emblems by the likes of Michael Maier.


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Admiral Eric Olson - 2012 CSULB Distinguished Speaker
Admiral Eric Olson is a retired 4-Star Navy admiral, 38-year Navy SEAL, and former Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) from 2007-2011.
Long before special operations forces and Navy SEAL's became household terms, Admiral Olson was among those quiet professionals performing the most difficult tasks in the most difficult of circumstances. During his tenure as America's top special operations officer, he was responsible for recruiting, training, equipping and deploying broadly capable forces worldwide.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has said, "As a result I this hard work, we now have the best-trained, best-equipped and most experienced Special Operations Force in the history of the United Sates." Olson is often described as one on this century's great military leaders, and is credited with developing the specialized forces that have accomplished some of the most notable military operations of the last decade. Many of the military's most significant operational successes of recent years van be traced back directly to decisions made by Admiral Olson over the course of his extraordinary career.
Admiral Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said "When the history of these wars is written, the first, last and most pivotal chapters will be about Eric and the people he has led and trained and mentored his entire adult life. From the shadows of the Hindu Kush to the streets of Baghdad, our special operators have literally changed the face of modern warfare."
Click here to watch Straight Talk Interview with Admiral Eric Olson
Juan Williams - 2011 CSULB Distinguished Speaker
Juan Williams, FOX News political analyst and top Washington journalist, was the featured speaker for the fifth annual Distinguished Speaker Series on October 20, 2011. His keynote address, Muzzled: Political Debate in America, dealt with how the media limits political debate and the continuing role of race in our national dialogue.
Williams is one of America's leading political writers and thinkers, and is a former correspondent for NPR. His well-publicized dismissal from NPR occurred after he commented publicly that Muslims in traditional dress boarding planes made him nervous. In the wake of NPR's controversial decision, he wrote Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate, discussing the countless ways in which honest debate in America is stifled.
Prior to his stint at NPR, Williams was an award-winning writer and columnist for more than 20 years at The Washington Post. He is the author of several books, including the acclaimed biography, Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary. With an honest and unflinching perspective on American race relations, Williams spurs individuals across the political spectrum to challenge their own assumptions and re-examine the role race plays in this country.
Click here to watch Straight Talk Interview with Juan Williams
Arianna Huffington - 2010 CSULB Distinguished Speaker
Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, nationally syndicated columnist and co-host of public radio's Left, Right and Center was the featured speaker for the fourth annual Distinguished Speaker Series on October 21, 2010. She spoke about Politics and the New Media, which addressed how the internet is shifting power to citizens and is having a game-changing impact on the political world.
Huffington is the author of 13 books. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that has quickly become one of the most widely read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the internet.
In 2006, Huffington was named to the Time 100, Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people. In 2009, she was named as one of the most influential women in media by Forbes magazine, and in 2009 she also was named to the Financial Times' list of 50 people who shaped the decade.
Huffington's books include Third World America, Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption are Undermining America, On Becoming Fearless in Love, Work and Life, and The Woman behind the Legend, a biography of Maria Callas.
Click here to watch Straight Talk Interview with Arianna Huffington
William D. Cohan - 2009 CSULB Distinguished Speaker
William D. Cohan, former senior Wall Street banker, author of two best-selling books and award-winning investigative journalist, was the featured speaker for the third annual Distinguished Speaker Series on November 18, 2009. He spoke about House of Cards, his 2009 exposé of the hubris and wretched excess on Wall Street that preceded the collapse of Bear Stearns and the 2008 financial meltdown.
Cohan is the author of two books about Wall Street, The Last Tycoons and House of Cards, which lay out in gory detail how the financial crisis began with the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. He is currently working on another Wall Street book, this one on Goldman Sachs, due for publication in 2011. Cohan also writes regularly for Fortune and The Financial Times, and his columns have appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Cohan was a Wall Street banker for 17 years and has an insider's in-depth knowledge of investment banking. He worked for such stellar firms as Lazard Frèresj, Merrill Lynch and JPMorganChase. A graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism, Cohan is able to explain complicated financial matters in an understandable manner. His books have reached the best-seller lists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. The Last Tycoons received the 2007 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs "business book of the year" award.
Click here to watch Straight Talk Interview with William D. Cohan
Seymour Hersh - 2008 CSULB Distinguished Speaker
Seymour Hersh, widely acknowledged as the most influential and acclaimed investigative reporter of our time, was the featured speaker for the second annual Distinguished Speaker Series on October 15, 2008. He spoke on "Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Now." His special focus is, and always has been, the abuse of power in the name of national security.
Hersh won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his work exposing the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War. Other journalism prizes include a record five George Polk Awards, the Lennon-Ono Peace Prize and more than a dozen other prizes for investigative reporting. Hersh has written eight books including "The Price of Power" for which he won the National Book Award and "Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib."
His ground -breaking reports include many that are landmark events in American journalism, including the Abu Ghraib prison abuse in Iraq, the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, the C.I.A.'s bombing of Cambodia, Henry Kissinger's wiretapping of his own staff, and the C.I.A.'s efforts against Chile's assassinated President, Salvador Allende. A former reporter for the New York Times, Hersh's articles most recently have appeared in the New Yorker magazine, covering such subjects as the looming threat of war with Iran and a detailed account of the Israeli raid on suspected Syrian nuclear facilities.
Click here to watch Straight Talk Interview with Seymour Hersh
Michael Josephson - 2007 CSULB Distinguished Speaker
Michael Josephson, founder and president of the Joseph and Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics and one of the nation's foremost ethics consultants to educational institutions, major corporations and government officials, was the featured speaker for the launch of the Distinguished Speaker Series on October 10, 2007. He spoke on "Ethics in America" to an audience of more than 700.
Josephson founded the national youth initiative Character Counts! and the Pursuing Victory with Honor sportsmanship campaign, both highly successful national youth initiatives that have reached more than six million young people through partnerships with schools and service organizations. He has led more than 1,000 ethics programs for more than 100,000 leaders in business, government, the media, law enforcement and education.
He has appeared on Primetime Live, Nightline, ABC World News Tonight, the Today Show, Fox News Live, CBS Evening News, The O'Reilly Factor and ESPN Sportszone and his commentary is heard regularly on KNX 1070 NewsRadio and public radio.
Click here to watch Straight Talk Interview with Michael Josephson


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New cast adds colourful twists to 'Da Kink In My Hair
'DA KINK IN MY HAIR by Trey Anthony, directed by Michele Shay. At the Enwave Theatre (231 Queens Quay West). To August 28. $37-$77. 416-973-4000. See listing Rating: NNN
Like a healthy head of hair, Trey Anthony's hard-hitting and inspiring monologue cycle about the challenges faced by black women in Canada continues to grow. This vibrant, updated remount, which caps a decade of increasingly successful productions - from Anthony's Fringe debut in 2001 to a lavish Mirvish production in 2005 and a Global TV series in 2008 - includes a new character and an amped-up musical focus developed for a 2010 performance at NYU's Tisch School.
Set in a bustling Caribbean salon in Toronto, Anthony's well-crafted monologues engage with pertinent social issues like gun violence, queer identity, suicide, aging and immigration. Her strength is writing characters who always prove more complex than they first appear (regular gasps from the audience are a good index of these shattered expectations).
Anthony's new monologue - about a white woman (Jennifer Neales) who attempts to reconcile with her racist family after having a child with a black partner - resonates alongside the seven older pieces. However, the most gripping tale remains the tragic and haunting story revealed by Stacey-Anne (Thais Francis), a young immigrant from Jamaica who finds the comfort of Canada's middle class poisoned by her step-father.
New musical-styled elements find the cast segueing between monologues with mostly a cappella R&B songs (composed by Michael McElroy and Carol Maillard) and choreography by Roger C. Jeffrey that ranges from funky nightclub moves to traditional African dance.


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Posts tagged with Buddy Media
Buddy Media and Twitter launch age screening
Earlier this year, recently-acquired social media marketing firm Vitrue launched a 'Twitter Gate' tool that allows brands to protect their Twitter feeds from being seen by underage followers.
The primary target of the company's offering was, not surprising, alcohol brands, many of which have been part of a big self-regulation push.
Oracle continues social shopping spree with Involver acquisition
Many businesses may have little idea what their social media marketing and ad campaigns are producing in the way of ROI, but by and large companies continue to up their investments in social.
That has created a booming business for firms that popped up to help companies manage and track their social campaigns. A booming business that caught the attention of some of the biggest names in tech.
Oracle purchases social media monitoring firm Collective Intellect
Another day, another social media marketing acquisition.
Two weeks ago, Oracle announced the purchase of social media marketing platform provider Vitrue. Yesterday, Salesforce announced that it's acquiring Vitrue competitor Buddy Media.
Salesforce buddies up with Buddy Media for $745m
Over the past several years, many of the world's largest brands have increasingly looked to establish better relationships with consumers by investing heavily in social media.
Now, some of the biggest names in software are investing heavily in startups built to help brands manage their social media initiatives.
Buddy Media announces integration with YouTube
Buddy Media has announced an integration with YouTube that allows brands to create social apps, apply global content targeting and view analytics in relation to the video site.
The company expects its YouTube-specific social apps - called 'sapplets' – to be the most popular new function, since video apps rank consistently among the top three most-used social apps within its marketing suite.
Buddy Media acquires Facebook Ads partner Brighter Option
Social enterprise software company Buddy Media has acquired Brighter Option in a move that extends the company's services to include paid Facebook ads.
London-based Brighter Option is a Facebook Ads API partner that provides social ad management software.
Buddy Media and comScore announce partnership
Buddy Media and comScore have partnered to combine the latter's panel-based consumer insight with the former's real-time engagement data and social suite.
Michael Lazerow, Buddy Media's CEO, said on the company's blog that the lack of adequate cooperation among infrastructure players is stunting social marketing success - and that this was the first in a series of partnerships aiming to change this for the better.
Buddy Media selected as launch partner for Google+ Pages
Social enterprise software firm Buddy Media has been selected as a launch partner for Google+ Pages.
Following the launch of Google+ Pages last week, which allows businesses and brands to create an official presence on the social platform, Google has chosen a small number of third party developers to participate in a trial. In Buddy Media's case, this will mean that Google+ functionality is integrated into its social marketing product, ConversationBuddy.
Q&A: Michael Lazerow on the future of social media branding
There aren't many silver linings in this economy, but there are a few companies that have figured out how to profit from popularity online. In the social media space, branding specialist Buddy Media has worked with such brands as FedEx, New Balance, Time Inc. and Microsoft. As the economy has tanked, Buddy Media has seen profits grow. In the last quarter of 2008, the company posted revenue growth over 100% and they are set to see similar returns this year.
This week, I wrote about how app and widget makers have rebooted their business model to monetize after the economy shifted. I also caught up with Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow to find out what works for brands in social media and who should get canned for their lack of effort in the space.


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You may have already seen the film, but this lighthearted start to Tolkien's remarkably imaginative classic is always worth a read, if for the laughs from Frodo & his gang of hobbits alone.
Rothfuss' masterpiece has taken the fantasy world by storm with its lyrical prose, the seeming boundlessness of the world, and the endearing faults and follies, compassion and cunning of the legendary Kvothe.
Not just for the fantasy lover, realists will also relate to this dark and otherworldly criticism of American idolatry and deeply emotional tale of love lost.
A fun & profound reimagining of the Napoleonic Wars with talking dragons you'll wish could be your trusty companions. Award-winning narrator Simon Vance brings the lovable voices of the dragons to life.
Fans of Rob Reiner's beloved film adaptation (and who isn't?) will find the same swashbuckling charm, humor, and romance — and Inigo Montoya — in the original novel.
Neil Gaiman's whimsical epic of a fairytale comes to life with the author's narration of his beloved novel. Catching a falling star has never before seemed so adventurous — or so romantic.
An intergalactic hole leads to a topsy-turvy world where an ordinary magician is bestowed with magic powers in this catalyst to the famous fantasy series.
When one boy & his dog stand at the gates to hell, all manner of magic, chaos, & adventure is released in this highly imaginative tale of good versus evil.
Venture to an alternate, post-virus-apocalypse Cincinnati with sexy, bounty-hunting witch Rachel Morgan. This first installment of The Hollows series will have you instantly hooked.
With nods to Eliot and Jung, this World Fantasy Award-winner explores the supernatural aftermath of a notorious game under the bright lights of Las Vegas.
This supernatural series kicks off with a twisted tale of revenge, racing through the depths of hell & back at the hands of a sinister & sarcastic anti-hero.


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The last eight years have been marked with peaceful relations between the different races in this country — at least, that's the case if you live in the same alternate reality as President Barack Obama.
On Thursday, the president was asked by WLS reporter Judy Hsu if race relations in the United States had gotten better or worse during his presidency, to which Obama responded with an unbelievable claim.
"I promise you, for the most part, race relations have gotten better," he said.
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Never mind the widespread sentiments of hate and violence toward white police officers, in particular, over the last several years, as evidenced by phrases such as, "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon!"
Never mind the disgusting video we saw just this week that showed four black assailants torturing a disabled young man for no apparent reason other than he was white.
TRENDING: Hate: CNN Commentator Explodes Over Trump Supporter's Minority Son
Never mind the fact that a young white man in Charleston, South Carolina, murdered innocent black people inside their sacred place of worship without one shred of remorse.
Never mind the fact that white supremacy groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, are still active and making moves to become more influential.
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Never mind all of those things, and more, and you have the world that Obama thinks he lives in — a world where race relations have "gotten better."
"You know I think that in some ways, like everything else it's gotten better and in some ways we have surfaced tensions that were already there but are getting more attention," Obama told WLS, suggesting that social media and cellphone videos have revealed attacks and other incidents that the public may never have heard about in the past.
However, the majority of Americans don't agree with the president's positive view of racial tensions during his tenure.
In fact, a 2015 New York Times/CBS News poll found that six in 10 Americans thought that race relations were generally bad, and four in 10 thought the situation was getting worse.
And, it wasn't just whites or blacks who responded that way, as members of both races generally believed that race relations were "poor."
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By comparison, in 2008 when President George W. Bush was still in office, nearly 60 percent of blacks said race relations were "generally bad," according to the New York Times. Seven years later — seven years of Obama's presidency — that number had risen to 68 percent.
The truth is that by race-baiting and failing to support law and order, Obama has only encouraged racial animosity during a time where he had a unique opportunity to heal our country's racial wounds.
H/T Breitbart
Like and share this article on Facebook and Twitter if you disagree with Obama that race relations have gotten better.
What do you think about race relations under President Obama? Scroll down to comment below.


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Special ingredients
|If you are looking for a luxury hotel during your stay in Ireland, then the Ballyfin Demesne would be a great choice. The hotel has a reputation of being one of the top luxury hotels in Ireland and its reputation is well deserved. The Ballyfin offers guests excellent service, a beautiful ambience, complete privacy and the experience of witnessing old Irish charm at its best.
|Guests who want a peaceful and serene vacation away from the hustle and bustle of city life will find the Ballyfin, a perfect spot. The hotel is located at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, a mountainous range in Central Ireland and is situated on a vast space of property that is around 614 acres. The Ballyfin does not have a lot of rooms like most luxury hotels but guests will find that all the rooms to be extremely spacious, providing them with complete privacy.
|The Ballyfin has a rich history as the country house was constructed by Sir Charles Coote, back in the 1820s. The Coote's family spent a lot of time on the property and held on to it for over a century before they decided to sell the property to the Patrician Brothers during the rise of the Irish independence movement. The Brothers decided to convert the property into a school which became very popular in Ireland and operated successfully for most of the 20th century.
|The Ballyfin is a luxury boutique hotel since it has just 20 rooms and suites for guests. The hotel has a well trained team that will focus on making your experience at the Ballyfin memorable. All the rooms come with their own unique history and feel to it.
|The 614 acres of property has been well maintained and guests will find a number of beautiful sights on the property including well maintained gardens, ancient woods, grottos, follies and a lake that is 9.5 kilometers long.
|The executive chef at the hotel interacts with guests to find out if they have any special preferences and if they would like to sample any particular dish. The hotel sources its fruit, vegetables and honey from its very own gardens and sometimes from local producers.
|Guests who are adventurous and would like to experience some outdoor activity can choose from a range of options at the Ballyfin. Some of those options include mountain biking, clay pigeon shooting, horse riding, falconry, archery, fishing, golf, working out at the small fitness center or doing a few laps in the swimming pool.
|The hotel has a rich ambience that makes one feel like they are walking through a museum. The interiors reflect the style and feel of the Neoclassical and Empire times while the hotel's walls display some great Irish art that dates back to the 17th century. There are also a number of portraits of the Coote family hanging on the walls of the Ballyfin, while antiques from all over the world are displayed in the hotel premises.
|Guests who are looking to unwind can visit the on-site spa that has a wide variety of treatments to pamper and help guests relax. Qualified therapists are at hand to provide therapeutic massages according to the needs of each guest.


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If an Aston Martin controlling wristwatch just doesn't do it for you, then maybe you need to step it up a bit, and go with the Parmigiani Fleurier Bugatti Type 370.
Originally intended only for Veyron owners, this limited edition piece can now be yours for a mere $280,000.
Design features include a transverse movement, which is supposed to be easier to read while driving, and a special tool to wind the watch with (every 10 days).
Wrist bodyguard not included.
[Parmigiani Fleurier – Bugatti Type 370]
[Via: The Watch Quote]


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Community safety
What is community safety?
Community safety aims to "increase the ability of people to go about daily life with little fear for their own safety, or of others" (Penrith City Council)
Safer communities are ones where all individuals make daily economic and social choices without the fear of becoming a victim of crime or of feeling unsafe. Community safety tackles issues that are both real and perceived.
Given that both real and perceived fears can impact on the value of community life, community safety programs aim to provide individual communities with the ability to address their own safety concerns, using a number of innovative approaches.
Community safety is linked to a quality of life where the community live without fear or hindrance from crime.
Community safety meetings
PACC meeting
The next meeting of the Police and Aboriginal Consultative Committee (PACC) will be held on Wednesday 31 October 2018 in the Kempsey Shire Council Chambers from 10:00am to 11:30am.
The PACC meet quarterly to address Aboriginal issues associated with community safety and crime. These meetings are not forums for broader community issues but are open to the Aboriginal community and are inclusive of gender and age. Light refreshments will be provided for those who attend. For more information, please contact Inspector Stuart Campbell at Kempsey Police Station on 6561 6199
CSPC meeting
The latest Community Safety Precinct Committee (CSPC) meeting was held at Kempsey Shire Council Chambers from 10am on Tuesday 28 November 2017.
The CSPC is the forum through which the NSW Police Force and Government agencies consult the community and other key stakeholders on crime prevention and community safety issues at a local level. Local Area Commanders also present accurate local crime information and raise awareness of crime prevention approaches.
CSPC's allow local Councils and community members to meet with Police Local Area Commanders and share their perspectives on local crime.


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Salutary tongues that speak in turn. Waiting for their chance to make us
The sounds and emotions spreading thin, we'll sink the float that would not
Let us win.
A solitary cheer that does not work. We cottoned on to all their taints and
And fled to the mountains on a whim, watching all the mess behind us sink.
And that's no way to listen to our sonnet.
They're buzzing like a bee inside my bonnet.
But the fools never listen to what I say.
They've copied all their lines into a prayer.
Fools, don't listen to a word I say. Just look the other way.
I'm not saying I've got much to say. Just look the other way.
Lyrics taken from http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/u/uniform_motion/fools_dont_listen_to_a_word_i_say.html


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Hundreds of anti-fracking demonstrators have been protesting at the entrance of an exploratory drilling site in West Sussex in England.
British politician arrested in anti-fracking protests
British politician arrested in anti-fracking protests
Sussex Police said about 30 people had been arrested for obstructing the highway or assault. Amongst them, Green MP Caroline Lucas and her son. Lucas's constituency, Brighton Pavilion, is about 20 miles away.
Energy firm Cuadrilla is drilling for oil near the village of Balcombe. Activists fear the next step will be fracking, the controversial energy-extraction technique.
Campaigners also forced their way into the company's headquarters in Lichfield in Staffordshire and six activists glued themselves to the London Headquarters of Cuadrilla's PR company.
About 20 protesters also demonstrated outside the constituency office of Horsham's Conservative MP Francis Maude.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wants the UK to press ahead with the technique of exploiting shale rock to get gas and oil.
Campaigners fear fracking will pollute water supplies, cause minor earthquakes and damage rural areas.


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Dandelions is a small neighboorhood cafe committed to providing our community with fresh, healthy, and gluten free foods. Breakfast and lunch menu items are made fresh-to-order using locally sourced ingredients. We serve eggs, pancakes, french toast, breakfast & lunch sandwiches, soups, salads, quiches, and other weekly specials. Dandelions is owned by local Evergreen Colorado residents, Janet and John Mullan, who strive to maintain a family friendly atmosphere.
Executive Chef, John Mullan, received his culinary degree from Kendall College in Chicago. He has a broad range of culinary experience, including restaurant, mobile food vending, and catering, and is the creative influence behind Dandelion's menu and unique dishes. He ensures that our made from scratch dishes are carefully prepared and beautifully presented.
From a very young age, John enjoyed cooking and creating home-cooked meals that brought family and friends together. John's inspiration to create healthy and gluten free dishes comes from personal experience. His wife was diagnosed with Celiac Disease when he first embarked on the journey to develop a variety of delicious gluten free recipes. As a New Jersey native, many of John's culinary creations are influenced by east coast cusine, including his popular Jersey Egg Sandwich.


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The Affordable Christmas:
How to Have a Fabulous Holiday
without Breaking the Bank
By Mary Hunt
Note: This deal may change or expire at any time. Be sure to confirm the price before placing an order.
"Freely you received, freely give."
If you think you will enjoy this free book, be sure to share the deal with others using the buttons below.


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The publisher: Virtue & Co., Ltd.
The saints are grouped by month. For example, April includes five Popes (Anicetus, Leo IX, Soter, Cletus, and Marcellinus), three Abbots (Stephen, Beuno, and Robert), and three Archbishops (Elpheg, Anselm, and Mellitus).
June has two Queens (Clotilda, Queen of France and Margaret, Queen of Scotland), one King (Ladislas I of Hungary) and 4 Apostles (Barnabas, Boniface Apostle of Russia, Peter and Paul).
It is amazing how few women there are. Aside from the Queens, there are three Virgins and two Widows.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.


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Demand for increased capacity, speed, and resources plagues every systems administrator. Network response time can slow to a crawl just because you add a few workstations to your network. Unexpected side effects (e.g., slow response times, incompatibility with existing software, a system crash) can pop up after you introduce a new software product. When you deploy new hardware, you face issues such as whether the hardware will perform as advertised and whether everything in your network will work properly once you deploy it.
Dynameasure Enterprise 1.5 by Bluecurve replaces guesswork with hard data so that you can deploy new hardware and software applications with confidence. Bluecurve's software measures end-to-end system performance from the application layer by applying controlled stress to the system. Systems administrators can use this flexible tool for server benchmarking, capacity planning, stress testing, and network analysis. Bluecurve geared Dynameasure 1.0 (see John Enck, "Dynameasure by Bluecurve: Born to Measure," November 1996) toward performance testing a Microsoft SQL Server environment using client/server hardware and software components. Bluecurve's Dynameasure 1.5 product line includes Dynameasure for SQL, Dynameasure for File Services, and Dynameasure Enterprise.
Dynameasure for SQL applies stress to the network via simulated OnLine Transaction Processing (OLTP) and SQL decision support workloads. This test service is an updated version of the SQL test service that Bluecurve provided in version 1.0. Dynameasure for File Services, new in version 1.5, measures Windows NT file services performance. This test service lets you apply copy workloads, which simulate copying files to and from a server; backup and retrieval workloads, which simulate backing up a client machine to a server and retrieving files from a server; and network application workloads, which simulate loading apps onto a client machine from a server and uploading and downloading files. Dynameasure Enterprise provides both test services, but because the Lab reviewed the SQL component in Dynameasure 1.0, I'll primarily report on the new File Services component in this review.
Dynameasure for File Services lets you create what-if scenarios of real-world network file operations. From more than 50 predefined file operations that clients typically perform, you choose one or more operations and create a simulated workload to meet your test objectives. (You can even model new users to gauge how they will affect network performance.) Each file operation uses one or more data, text, image, or binary file to perform tasks such as copying images to the server, backing up a client machine, and loading a client program. Dynameasure uses your existing network client configuration to run motors that generate client load. The motors coexist with resident client applications, so you can test your everyday operating environment while end users keep working.
Putting controlled stress on the network and assessing performance let you pinpoint server, network, and client bottlenecks. You can (and should) customize the workloads to construct scenarios that provide meaningful information specific to your network. Tailoring the file operations and analyzing the results can help you decide whether you need more CPUs, memory, disk space, or network bandwidth.
Dynameasure Preliminaries
To run Dynameasure tests, you must conFigure four components: a control client, a control server, at least one test client, and at least one test server. The control client, running either Windows NT or 95, executes an agent program known as the Manager. The Manager is the interface through which you set up, run, monitor, and analyze the tests. The control server hosts databases that contain the test data and store the test results. Test clients obtain the test parameters from and record their results to the control server. For most tests, you will use several test client systems. Each test client, running Win95 or NT, executes an operator program. Each operator can start 25 motors (or 100 motors with an additional licensing agreement); each motor generates the workload of one user. The final component, the test server, is the focal point of the test: On the test server, you load the test data set, the data that the test clients access during the test run.
Bluecurve (and the Windows NT Magazine Lab) recommends that you use separate computers for the control server and the test server. Dynameasure stores the transaction results from the tests in a database on the control server. With separate machines, the I/O load of updating the transaction results database does not influence the I/O load on the test data set.
Bluecurve supplies a well-written user manual that takes you through a logical progression of what the product is and how to use it. Screen shots and diagrams that describe the architecture and components of Dynameasure supplement the discussion of concepts and definitions. You can find complete instructions for the installation and use of the different components, even step-by-step instructions for running a File Services sample test. I highly recommend you thoroughly study Chapter 9, "Testing Strategies," before you try to use the product. The chapter details how to locate bottlenecks, the characteristics of workloads, and how to select the data set and tests to provide a meaningful performance evaluation. Another must-read chapter is Chapter 8, "Analyzing Test Results." Once you've run a test, this chapter will help you sort, filter, and view the results. You'll also find out how to print reports to help you zero in on network problems.
The software includes online Help files that follow Microsoft's format. The Dynameasure Demo CD-ROM contains technical data and a new user tutorial, which I found useful. The tutorial provides an excellent explanation of the software components, and it steps you through configuring and running a successful test.
On Your Mark, Get Set...
Bluecurve has improved Dynameasure's installation process in version 1.5. The setup program walks you through the installation process for the control server, the control client, and the test clients. If Dynameasure doesn't detect the Microsoft Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) drivers, it will prompt you to install the drivers from the installation CD-ROM onto the control server, the control client, and every test client. On the control server, Dynameasure uses Microsoft SQL Server to create, store, and access test data objects. If SQL Server is not present on the control server, Dynameasure installs it. If you plan to run Dynameasure for SQL, you must install SQL Server (or Oracle 7.3) on the test server to support the test data set. If you plan to run only Dynameasure for File Services, you do not need SQL Server on the test server. (For details about how we set up the Lab's test environment to run Dynameasure, see the sidebar, "The Lab's Testbed.")
After completing the installation, I started the control client's Manager. The Manager contains three components: the Dispatcher, which you use to select, manage, and monitor the tests; the Builder, which you use to build and maintain the test environment; and the Analyzer, which you use to manage and analyze test results. I invoked the Dispatcher, which displays the window shown in Screen 1. Test clients appear in the Dispatcher window after you load the operators onto the workstations and start them. Test servers appear in the Dispatcher window after you register them with the Manager. The color of the test client and test server icons represents resource status: Blue signals Ready, red signals Trouble, Not Reporting, and green signals Active Testing.
Before you can run a test, you must build the test data set to be transmitted across the network between the test server and the test clients. From the Manager, click Builder to display the window shown in Screen 2. In this window, you define the type of data set to build, specify where to store it, and execute the build. Because my goal was to review Dynameasure for File Services, I selected File Test Datasets as the type of data set I wanted to build. In Screen 2, you can see that the test will use a collection of data, text, image, and binary files.
Dynameasure supplies SQL and File Services data sets on separate CD-ROMs. The CD-ROMs provide preset scales, which you can load onto the test server using the Builder option of Manager. Scaling affects the amount of data loaded in the test data set; you can adjust the data set scale to fit your available disk space and satisfy your testing requirements. For the example in Screen 2, the scale 1.0 data set has size 593MB. Changing the scale to 0.01 reduces the size to about 5.9MB, and scaling to 10.0 increases the size to about 5.9GB. (Bluecurve's hard disk space requirements for File Services test servers are 10MB for scale 0.01 data sets, 610MB for scale 1.0 data sets, and 6.1GB for scale 10.0 data sets.)
Next, from the Dispatcher window, I clicked Add Test and selected the Copy All Bi-directional File Services test. This test will copy compressed and uncompressed data, text, and image files between the server and clients. The Queue section of the Dispatcher window displays the test you select. Double-clicking the test displays the File Test Specifications window, as shown in Screen 3.
On the Target tab, you select the test server and specify the path for the data set. On the Steps tab, you specify the number of steps (from one to six) for the test. The Steps option lets you gradually increase the number of motors (not exceeding your license agreement) that the test applies to the system. The Lab license allowed a maximum of 100 motors, so I chose six steps, with the number of motors increasing in this order: 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100. On the Times tab, you can designate the total run time for each step of the test. For the Lab's test, I set the time to 300 seconds. On the Settings tab, you can set additional execution parameters. For example, I set Think Time (the number of seconds between completing a transaction and starting the next transaction) to 5 seconds, as shown in Screen 3.
Dynameasure uses a mix of transactions for each test. On the Weights tab of the File Test Specifications window, you can adjust the weight of each type of transaction included in a test. If you set a transaction's weight to 0, Dynameasure will not execute the transaction during the test. Increasing a transaction's weight results in that transaction executing proportionately more times than the other transactions in the test. On the Details tab you can change transaction configuration parameters such as copy direction, block size, and file scale. On the Schedule tab, you can specify a time to run the tests, such as after workday hours or on the weekend. After you complete all the settings for your test, you save the test specifications to the queue.
To initiate the test in the queue, I clicked Start Queue in the Dispatcher window. In the pretest phase, the operators running on the test clients generate the motors. In the Clients section of Screen 4, you can see the blue squares that represent the motors, displayed with the test client icons. During a test, the motor icons change color to signal status: blue for Ready, yellow for Testing Passive, green for Testing Active, gray for Dropped Out, and red for Not Reporting.
In the bottom section of the Dispatcher window, you can monitor the test's progress. In Screen 4, you can see the phases for each step, the elapsed times, and which step is being tested. The Results tab charts the test results at the end of each step, as shown in Screen 5. This feature lets you closely monitor each stage of the test. I found this monitoring capability very helpful in two situations. In one situation, I saw that the network had reached the maximum Bytes Per Second in the first few steps. I stopped the test and reduced the number of motors for the next test run. In the second situation, I saw that the test was not going to reach the maximum Bytes Per Second, so I added more motors on the next test runs.
In Screen 5, you can see a few red motors, signaling that the operator and motors stopped reporting. I knew I had a problem when red became the most prevalent color on the screen. I started losing operators and motors in domino fashion. The test ran to completion, but the results were not what I expected. I ran the test a dozen times, with similar results (see the sidebar, " Analyzing Test Results," for details about Dynameasure's test analysis features). The results revealed that somewhere between 27 motors and 38 motors, the average response time per transaction more than doubled, the number of bytes transmitted per second across the network fell sharply, and the system could not support more than an average of 56 users. In a commercial business network, these results would imply that if the business expanded from 30 users to 40 users, file operations would slow considerably. I immediately thought this situation couldn't be right because I'd used the same network configuration to generate hundreds of client workloads using Dynameasure for SQL tests. I changed data set parameters such as scale and Think Time, but the results were much the same.
After spending more than enough time studying the situation, I called Bluecurve's technical support team. The representative was extremely helpful and stated that the Lab's network configuration should be able to handle a much bigger user workload. The representative suggested an approach right out of the user manual: Develop a plan first. Because Dynameasure Enterprise was a new release of familiar software, I had given the user manual a cursory glance, accepted the defaults for configuration, and run a test I picked at random. I had not defined what area of the network I wanted to stress (clients, server, bandwidth) or decided whether I was testing CPU usage, RAM, hard disk performance, or new hardware or software. Because the test results were not what I expected, I blamed the software. Instead, I should have read the manual and developed a strategy based on what kind of baseline I wanted to achieve. I simply wanted to measure network throughput under a workload of 100 motors. After I identified what my baseline was going to measure, I defined the performance testing strategy.
Bluecurve advised me to start with a small-scale data set and a minimal number of motors, and gradually increase the scale or the number of motors to find the network bottlenecks. So after reading the user manual, I proceeded to run the same File Services test: Copy All Bi-directional. I created a 0.01 scale data set, increased the Think Time to 10 seconds, changed the File Test Specifications to only 30 motors (one for each workstation), and conFigured only one step instead of six.
The test results did not improve: During pretest, operators and motors again turned red, signaling they were not reporting. However, now I had a better understanding of the information Dynameasure could give me. Besides monitoring the progress and results in the Dispatcher, I used other Dynameasure diagnostic tools. For example, Dynameasure logs every action the motor performs. I identified a red motor in the Dispatcher and then went to that machine and viewed Motor Details, as shown in Screen 6. From the Log, I determined that the motors were not being turned on during the pretest, which caused the Not Reporting status. I also observed that all the red client machines connected to the same repeater. The NT Event Log showed redirector errors for the problem machines.
Then the Miracle Occurs
I took the next logical action--I turned off the suspect client machines. I was amazed with the next series of tests. The remaining 23 clients had no problem running the test with 23 motors. Next, I gradually increased the number of motors to the Lab's 100 limit. Screen 7 shows the results the Analyzer (the third component in the Manager) displayed. The results show that the network configuration could support 100 users applying the workload in the Copy All Bi-directional test. I changed the Cogent S-1200 repeater that the problem machines connected to, and all 30 operators started and displayed a blue Ready status in the Dispatcher. All subsequent tests ran with 30 operators providing 100 motors.
As you can see, Dynameasure worked properly from the beginning. Had I followed a performance strategy and properly examined the test results, I would have saved myself days of anguish. Dynameasure found a hardware bottleneck in my network and let me correct it. Mastering Dynameasure takes time, but the tools and data resources make network analysis a breeze.
Screen 8 displays performance results for three client-to-server file operation tests that I ran on the Lab's network. The Motors per Step graph shows that the network can support at least 100 users. The Bytes per Second graph compares the transaction performance of individual file operations and charts how the network would react to a given number of users executing the same file operation. For example, the green line represents throughput performance for the Copy Large Data to Server test. After Step 3, system performance degrades. The Motors per Step graph shows that 40 motors completed the file operations in Step 3. Thus, adding more than 40 users to the network will decrease system performance.
The more I used Dynameasure 1.5, the more I liked it. Armed with the user manual's appendix, any systems administrator can select and modify tests to mimic typical user actions on the network. With customized tests, a systems administrator can identify where bottlenecks will occur, for which type of transactions performance will degrade, and the network's user capacity. This product definitely performs as advertised.
|Dynameasure 1.5
Contact: Bluecurve * 510-267-1500
Web: http://www.bluecurve.com
Email: [email protected]
Price: $29,995, Dynameasure Enterprise (includes 1 Manager license, 100 test client motors for both SQL and File Services, 1 data set for SQL requests, and 1 data set for File Services); $2495, Dynameasure for File Services (includes 25 File Services test clients); $4995, Dynameasure for SQL (includes 25 SQL test client motors)
System Requirements:
Test server and control server: Pentium processor*, 32MB of RAM, NT 3.51 or higher, SQL Server 6.0 or higher or Oracle 7.3 Server
Control client and test clients: Pentium or 486-type processor, 16MB of RAM, NT 3.51 or higher or Win95, 32-bit ODBC SQL client version 2.5


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EUGENE -- The eight-week stretch between national signing day and the beginning of spring practices might seem unremarkable in the college football calendar, yet Oregon coach Mark Helfrich doesn't hesitate to call it "always a great time of year."
"You're in fix-it mode," he said. "There's that anticipation to get back out on the field with the guys and that's always fun."
Oregon is less than a month from the first of its 15 allowed spring practices on April 1, the first date the Ducks officially turn the page from a season that was celebrated as their sixth straight with at least 10 victories yet disappointed by snapping a four-game Bowl Championship Series streak.
"Fix-it" mode means exactly that; Oregon's coaches have spent their offseason saying fans should expect tweaks but no major overhauls to their spread offense or 3-4 defense during spring drills that conclude with the May 3 spring game. It is tied with Oregon State for the latest spring games in the Pac-12.
But that doesn't mean Oregon isn't searching for improvements, and for those, fixing Oregon's flaws from 2013 began in the weight room for the players and the video study for coaches.
"We're trying to obviously get a little bigger, a little more physical, all those things and with that there's an element of risk but we're relatively healthy for this time of year coming out of the phase of strength training and building," Helfrich said. "You watch your entire offseason the offense and defense and special teams … it's just the little tiny fraction that would have been the difference in a successful play.
"We have a ton of them, whether it was penalties or one-man breakdowns that could have been huge -- either defensive stops for us or touchdown-type of plays offensively. Those are the ones that are the most frustrating because they're the most easily identifiable and, 'Why didn't we just do this?' We need to coach that better. You're kind of excited to get out there for that, you have all this stuff that you think will make you better."
The Ducks' starting offense should require only a fine-tuning after returning every starter but graduated receiver Josh Huff from the Alamo Bowl victory against Texas. On defense, UO was depleted by seven departures from the line and secondary and will feature new roles for defensive coordinator Don Pellum and outside linebackers coach Erik Chinander.
Helfrich was pessimistic about another Duck taking on a new role, too, but also left open the possibility.
Junior defensive lineman Arik Armstead will be eligible for the NFL draft after next season, but at 6-foot-8, with a former basketball player's nimble footwork and a long reach, some believe his best position is offensive tackle.
He was projected as one of the nation's best at that position as a high school recruit, and an NFL.com article in January stated he was "unlikely to be selected as early" if he remained on defense. He had 15 tackles and 3.0 tackles for loss last season.
"I would never say never, believe me (offensive line coach) Steve Greatwood is trying to get the recruiter of the year award trying to work Arik every day," Helfrich said. "He's definitely a guy who has a prototype of that position but he's also a guy who at times has been dominant defensively. He's got to get better at what he's doing but we'll see where that takes him."


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At the Treasury Committee's hearing on 18 July
on the Spending Review, the Chancellor undertook to provide a
note about the position of the taxpayer in relation to the changes
which are being made to the benefits payable under the Parliamentary
Pension Fund (PCPF).
There are two main changes affecting the costs
of the scheme. First, an increase in the level of the one-off
sum payable on the death of a member. This was recommended by
the Senior Salaries Review Body as an improvement to be implemented
at Exchequer cost and the Government accepted this recommendation.
The other main change to scheme benefits is an optional increase
in the rate of accrual of pension benefits from 1150th to 1140th
of final salary coupled with a higher member contribution: 9 per
cent of salary; compared to the existing level of 6 per cent of
salary. This change applies to service from 16 July 2002 only.
Members can also opt to continue to receive pension accrual at
1150th of final salary and to continue to pay contributions of
6 per cent of salary. A further option is to backdate the improved
accrual (and increased contribution) to 5 July 2001, the date
of the Commons vote.
The Government's policy is not to make changes
to PCPF benefits at the taxpayers cost unless these have been
recommended by the review body. Where the review body does make
such recommendations these are judged carefully to take account
of their affordability and their consistency with our general
policy on occupational pensions and public service pensions in
particular. Although the Government was able to accept the recommendations
for an increase in death benefit at Exchequer cost, it was not
able to accept the parallel recommendation from the review body
for the Exchequer to bear the costs of removing the scheme rule
for cessation of survivor pensions on the remarriage or cohabitation
of the surviving spouse. Where other public service schemes have
introduced that improvement in benefits it has always been done
only at a cost to members and not to their employers.
We believe that the trustees of the PCPF are
currently working on a package of proposals for the removal of
this rule from the PCPF and for the introduction to the scheme
of pensions for unmarried partners as well as spouses of members.
The review body recommended that consideration should be given
to the introduction of unmarried partner pensions, but not at
Exchequer cost. The Government will consider this package of proposals
carefully in due course.
The most significant change to the scheme rules
is the introduction of the option for members to achieve a faster
rate of accrual of pensions in return for a higher member contribution.
In July 2001 the House resolved that, contrary to the original
recommendations of the review body, the accrual rate of the PCPF
should be raised from 1150th to 1140th of final salary across
the board, at taxpayer cost. The Government rejected this. It
did not consider that the additional cost to the taxpayer could
be justified and particularly so when the review body, having
carefully considered all of the arguments in favour of such a
change, had recommended clearly against it. But it has no objection
in principle to benefits being improved in the PCPF or any other
public service pension scheme where the incremental costs are
being borne by members rather than the taxpayer.
The increase in the accrual rate of the PCPF
sought by members is therefore being introduced, following further
advice from the review body, as an option associated with a higher
rate of member contribution. For those opting for the faster accrual
rate the increase in member contributions from 6 per cent to 9
per cent will be significant. However, it would not alone completely
cover the costs of the faster accrual. The Government has therefore
accepted advice from the review body that it will be possible
for them to take into account the residual incremental cost of
the faster accrual rate when making recommendations about future
levels of pay and allowances for members of the scheme.
The actuarial estimate of the costs of increasing
the accrual rate is about 5 per cent of pay. The residual which
is not covered by the increase in member contributions for those
taking up the faster accrual option is therefore around 2 per
cent of pay. If all active members of the scheme were to exercise
the option for faster accrual, then the Exchequer contribution
would have to be about 2 percentage points of pay higher than
it would otherwise have been, to balance the fund on an ongoing
basis. However, we are content with the undertaking from the SSRB
that they will be able to make recommendations on pay and allowances
for members of the House in the future which will have the effect
of offsetting and fully absorbing this cost.
In this way the Government has been able to
maintain its principle that the taxpayer should not be expected
to carry the costs of changes to the Parliamentary Pension Scheme
which have not been recommended by the SSRB.
I hope that the Committee finds this explanation
11 October 2002


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On October 17, 2017, an engineering analysis was presented to City Council describing a study conducted post-Hurricane Harvey.
The existing Amil gates, located on Brooks Lake between Hwy 6 and Brooks St., will be replaced with a new concrete weir structure. Bidding is currently underway and a construction contract is anticipated for approval late 2017.