text:
Phenylalanine occurs in two chemical forms:
L-phenylalanine, a natural amino acid found in proteins; and its mirror image, D-phenylalanine, a form synthesized in a laboratory. Some research has involved the L-form, others the D-form, and still others a combination of the two known as DL-phenylalanine.
In the body, phenylalanine is converted into another amino acid called
tyrosine. Tyrosine in turn is converted into L-dopa, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, three key neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit signals between nerve cells). Because some antidepressants work by raising levels of norepinephrine, various forms of phenylalanine have been tried as a possible treatment for depression.
D-phenylalanine (but not L-phenylalanine) has been proposed to treat chronic pain. It blocks
enkephalinase, an enzyme that may act to increase pain levels in the body.
L-phenylalanine is an essential amino acid, meaning that we need it for life and our bodies can't manufacture it from other chemicals. It is found in protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, and beans. Provided you eat enough protein, you are likely to get enough L-phenylalanine for your nutritional needs. There is no nutritional need for D-phenylalanine.
D- and DL-phenylalanine are typically taken at a dose of 100 to 200 mg daily for the treatment of depression.1
For the treatment of chronic pain, studies have used D-phenylalanine in doses as high as 2,500 mg daily.
It is best not to take your phenylalanine supplement at the same time as a high-protein meal, as it may not be absorbed well.
double-blind, comparative studies
suggest (but do not prove) that both the D- and DL- forms of phenylalanine might be helpful for
Weak and contradictory evidence has been used to advocate the use of D-phenylalanine as a general analgesic (pain relieving treatment).4-7
studies found that L-phenylalanine may enhance the effectiveness of ultraviolet for
Highly preliminary evidence suggests that D-phenylalanine may be helpful for
multiple sclerosis when combined with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS).11
D-phenylalanine has also been proposed as a treatment for
Parkinson's disease
(but see
Safety Issues below).12
Although D- and DL- phenylalanine are marketed as treatments for
attention deficit disorder, they do not appear to be helpful.13,14
Some proponents claim that phenylalanine works better when combined with
glutamine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), but this has not been proven.
A pair of double-blind comparative studies found that D- or DL-phenylalanine may be as effective as the antidepressant drug imipramine, and possibly work more quickly. The larger of the two studies compared the effectiveness of D-phenylalanine at 100 mg daily against the same daily dose of imipramine.15
Sixty people with depression were randomly assigned to take either imipramine or D-phenylalanine for 30 days. The results in both groups were statistically equivalent, meaning that phenylalanine was about as effective as imipramine. D-phenylalanine worked more rapidly, however, producing significant improvement in only 15 days. Like most antidepressant drugs, imipramine required several weeks to take effect.
The other double-blind study followed 27 people, half of whom received DL-phenylalanine (150 to 200 mg daily) and the other half imipramine (100 to 150 mg daily).16
When they were reevaluated after 30 days, both groups had improved by a statistically equal amount.
L-phenylalanine has also been tried as a treatment for depression, but not in studies that could provide a scientifically meaningful result.17,18
Unfortunately, there have not been any double-blind,
-controlled studies of phenylalanine for depression. This is too bad, since without such evidence we can't be sure that the supplement is actually effective. (For information on why such studies are so important, see
Why Does This Database Rely on Double-blind Studies?)
The enzyme enkephalinase breaks down enkephalins, naturally occurring substances that reduce pain. D-phenylalanine (but not L-phenylalanine) is thought to block enkephalinase; this could lead to increased enkephalin levels, which in turn would tend to reduce pain.21
On this basis, D-phenylalanine has been proposed as a pain-killing drug.
However, as yet there is no meaningful evidence that it really works in this way. A small double-blind, placebo-controlled study reported evidence for the effectiveness of D-phenylalanine in chronic pain,21 but a careful re-examination of the math involved showed that it actually proved little.22 Another small double-blind, placebo-controlled study failed to find any benefits at all.23 Another study commonly described as showing D-phenylalanine effective suffered from many flaws (including the fact that it lacked a control group) and, therefore, can't be trusted.19,20
The long-term safety of phenylalanine in any of its forms is not known. Both L- and D-phenylalanine must be avoided by those with the rare metabolic disease phenylketonuria (PKU).
The maximum safe dosages of phenylalanine have not been established for young children, pregnant or nursing women, or those with severe liver or kidney disease.
There are some indications that the combined use of phenylalanine with antipsychotic drugs might increase the risk of developing the long-term side effect known as tardive dyskinesia, or worsen symptoms in those who already have it.24,25,26
Like other amino acids, phenylalanine may interfere with the absorption or action of the drug levodopa, which is used for
Parkinson's disease.27
If you are taking:
Werbach MR.
Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness: A Sourcebook of Clinical Research. Tarzana, CA: Third Line Press; 1991:141-142.
Heller B. Pharmacological and clinical effects of D-phenylalanine in depression and Parkinson's disease. In: Mosnaim AD, Wolf ME, eds.
Noncatecholic Phenylethylamines. Part 1. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker; 1978:397-417.
Beckmann H, Athen D, Olteanu M, et al. DL-phenylalanine versus imipramine: a double-blind controlled study.
Arch Psychiat Nervenkr.
Balagot RC, Ehrenpreis S, Kubota K, et al. Analgesia in mice and humans by D-phenylalanine: Relation to inhibition of enkephalin degradation and enkephalin levels.
Adv Pain Res Ther.
Walsh NE, Ramamurthy S, Schoenfeld LS, et al. D-phenylalnine was not found to exhibit opiate receptor mediated analgesia in monkeys [letter].
Budd K. Use of D-phenylalanine, an enkephalinase inhibitor, in the treatment of intractable pain.
Adv Pain Res Ther.
Walsh NE, Ramamurthy S, Schoenfeld LS, et al. Analgesic effectiveness of D-phenylalanine in chronic pain patients.
Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1986;67:436-439.
Siddiqui AH, Stolk LM, Bhaggoe R, et al. L-phenylalanine and UVA irradiation in the treatment of vitiligo.
Dermatology. 1994;188:215-218.
Camacho F, Mazuecos J. Treatment of vitiligo with oral and topical phenylalanine: 6 years of experience.
Arch Dermatol. 1999;135:216-217.
Schulpis CH, Antoniou C, Michas T, et al. Phenylalanine plus ultraviolet light: preliminary report of a promising treatment for childhood vitiligo.
Pediatr Dermatol. 1989;6:332-335.
Winter A. New treatment for multiple sclerosis.
Neurol Orthop J Med Surg.
Heller B, Fischer E, Martin R. Therapeutic action of D-phenylalanine in Parkinson's disease.
Zametkin AJ, Koroum F, Rapoport JL. Treatment of hyperactive children with D-phenylalanine.
Am J Psychiatry. 1987;144:792-794.
Wood DR, Reimherr FW, Wender PH. Treatment of attention deficit disorder with DL-phenylalanine.
Psychiatry Res. 1985;16:21-26.
Sabelli HC, Fawcett J, Gusovsky F, et al. Clinical studies on the phenylethylamine hypothesis of affective disorder: urine and blood phenylacetic acid and phenylalanine dietary supplements.
J Clin Psychiatry. 1986;47:66-70.
Kravitz HM, Sabelli HC, Fawcett J. Dietary supplements of phenylalanine and other amino acid precursors of brain neuroamines in the treatment of depressive disorders.
J Am Osteopathic Assoc. 1984;84(suppl):119-123.
Richardson MA.
Amino Acids in Psychiatric Disease. Washington, DC: Psychiatric Press; 1990.
Mosnik DM, Spring B, Rogers K, et al. Tardive dyskinesia exacerbated after ingestion of phenylalanine by schizophrenic patients.
Neuropsychopharmacology. 1997;16:136-146.
Gardos G, Cole JO, Matthews JD, et al. The acute effects of a loading dose of phenylalanine in unipolar depressed patients with and without tardive dyskinesia.
Nutt JG, Woodward WR, Hammerstad JP, et al. The "on-off" phenomenon in Parkinson's disease. Relation to levodopa absorption and transport.
N Engl J Med.
Last reviewed December 2015 by EBSCO CAM Review Board
EBSCO Information Services is fully accredited by URAC. URAC is an independent, nonprofit health care accrediting organization dedicated to promoting health care quality through accreditation, certification and commendation.
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © EBSCO Information Services. All rights reserved.


text: Who has one? On a whim Bendejo and I decided it was it would be a great training tool and a good way to get quickie rides in when the mood struck. This beauty is currently in transit and will hopefully arrive tomorrow. We've been lurking over at OTN and learning as much as we can. We're super excited to get the bike here to start playing.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., July 20 (UPI) -- Steve Garban, chairman of the Penn State board of trustees when the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal broke last year, resigned Thursday.
Garban, who was still a member of the board, said in his letter of resignation that "these past months have been some of the most painful of my life."
He became the first member of the board of trustees to step down in the wake of the accusations involving Sandusky and the eventual trial in which the former assistant football coach was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse against 10 boys in a 15-year period.
"The horrific allegations that came to light in November have haunted us all, but nothing we have experienced compares to that of Jerry Sandusky's victims," Garban said in his letter. "My thoughts and prayers will remain with them always."
Garban became a member of the board of trustees in 1998. He was chairman in 2010 and 2011.
Karen Peetz, the board's current chairwoman, announced she had accepted Garban's resignation.
"I want to sincerely thank him for his many years of service to Penn State University and for the leadership he exhibited today," Peetz said.


text:
The 2011 season is not far away and now it is time to start figuring out where some of the top players are going to be during the upcoming season. This is the JCGridiron.com pre-season quarterback...
Premium Content
Subscribe today to read the full article and get everything Rivals has to offer.
- Member-only message boards
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text:
ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando Magic superstar center Dwight Howard has officially been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-team trade, according to Magic officials.
In the deal, which also involves the Denver Nuggets and the Philadelphia 76ers, the Orlando Magic received Arron Afflalo and Al Harrington from Denver, Nikola Vucevic and Moe Harkless from Philadelphia and Josh McRoberts and guard/forward Christian Eyenga from the Lakers.
Philadelphia received Andrew Bynum from Los Angeles and Jason Richardson from Orlando, while Denver received Andre Iguodala from the 76ers. The Magic have also traded guard Chris Duhon and forward Earl Clark to the Lakers.
Sources confirmed the trade to Local 6 Sports Director David Pingalore on Thursday night, but the NBA's approval on Friday made it official.
In addition, the Magic have also acquired five additional draft picks over the next five years, according to a release. The draft picks include: a second round pick from Denver in 2013, a first round pick from either Denver or New York in 2014, a conditional first round pick from Philadelphia and a conditional second round pick from the Lakers in 2015, and a conditional first round pick from the Lakers in 2017.
Howard had repeatedly sought a trade to the Brooklyn Nets, but Orlando failed to work out a deal, paving the way for the Lakers to get the All-Star.
"Dwight Howard accomplished tremendous success on and off the court during his eight years in Orlando," said Magic GM Rob Hennigan in a release. "We wish him, Chris (Duhon), Earl (Clark) and Jason (Richardson) all the best in the future."
Hennigan spoke alongside head coach Jacque Vaughn at a news conference on Friday in a somewhat somber tone and said he felt the trade was the best deal for the team. He said his decision wasn't based on emotions, but on who wants to be a part of the team, calling it a "basketball decision."
"We wanted a mixture of things--flexibility, some good young players to grow with our team," Hennigan said. "We didn't make this decision for tomorrow. We made it to make something, to building something. You have to think more long-term than short term."
Hennigan also praised the Magic fans, saying "the great thing about this organization other than this ownership group is the fanbase."
Fans who spoke to Local 6 had mixed feelings about the Howard trade.
"If you don't want to be here, move out of the way and let someone who does want to be here come and be the best that they can be," a fan said.
PHOTOS: Orlando radio station burns Howard jersey
"The Magic is the citizens, as well. We don't need Dwight Howard, just like we didn't need Shaquille O'Neal," another fan said.
Howard, 27, was drafted by the Magic in 2004 out of high school. He led the Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009 against the Lakers, losing 4 to 1. Howard, who averaged 20 points and 15 rebounds last season, is a six-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA team selection, five-time All-Defensive member and three-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Hennigan said the Magic and Howard tried to mend fences amidst the trade talk.
"We tried to establish a relationship with Dwight that was built on interpersonal exchanges and really more than anything just a personal touch," Hennigan said. "While we were working on that, we were working on an option. Throughout the process, things were very professional and very business-like, and for that we appreciate. In terms of relaying the message, 'here's where you're going.' It was pretty short."
Vaughn also fielded questions at the news conference, particularly about the new players.
"I believe in the dynamic of a team that wants to be there," Vaughn said. "When we start this season, we would have guys that would want to be great and that would want to wear Magic uniforms."
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2012 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
The Mondial Du Vent event came to an official close today, as top competitors were celebrated at the awards ceremony in front of hundreds of in-person fans and over 200 online viewers. Riders were presented with special gifts and praise, while the local sponsors, Orange, Orangina, and the City of Leucate were also recognized for their significant contributions to this stellar event.
Manuela Jungo and Liam Whaley took to the stage first to accept their award for the "Rookie of Mondial Du Vent", an honor they both most certainly deserved. Liam Whaley turned heads at this year's French competition, beating out current World Champion Youri Zoon and earning a third place finish in the single eliminations. Jungo also continued her solid riding, as first exhibited in Dakhla, Morocco –the PKRA's inaugural stop of 2012.
Once the female event winners stepped onto the podium, it was apparent that the entire crowd was excited to witness this final unveiling of the official Mondial Du Vent champions. First place winner, Gisela Pulido, told the crowd that she was very happy to be in first place and that she hopes to do the same for this same event next year. The second place winner, Karolina Winkowska announced that she was very pleased with her final results, and Bruna Kajiya – the third place holder – commented on the high level of riding now present in the women's portion of the competition, adding that she was very grateful to be standing on the podium.
The men also entered the stage to much applause and excitement. Alberto Rondina moving up, grabbed his first ever 2nd place with an excellent display of riding during the event. Also a major focus of this year's event, Youri Zoon stood proud at third place, after slowly and impressively inching his way up from 17th place on the final day of competition. Alex Pastor remained humble, yet highly appreciative and excited for his first place position, saying that he loves riding in Leucate, as it retains similar conditions to his home spot of Tarifa, where he has been on the water since 8 years old.
Up next for the 2012 PKRA will be the MINI Kiteboard World Tour in Mexico, for the highly anticipated first racing event of the year. This competition promises to deliver the ultimate in racing action, with a special freestyle exhibition put on by top riders, Alberto Rondina and Sebastian Garat. The next PKRA freestyle event – the O'Neill Kitesurf World Cup the Hague 2012 – will take place for the first time ever in Holland, from May 15th-20th. Spectators and fans can look forward to more live streaming, real time scoring, and, as usual, the best freestyle performances by the best riders in the world.


text:
After 35 years of playing together, INXS is calling it quits.
At the band's final show of their joint tour on Nov. 11 with Matchbox Twenty in Perth, Australia, INXS officially announced they were saying goodbye to the road forever.
"We understand that this must come as a blow to everybody, but all things must come to an end," the band said in a statement. "We have been performing for 35 years, it's time to step away from the touring arena."
They continued by thanking friends and family who have been there since the beginning. The band also assured fans that the band wasn't completely over.
"Our music will of course live on and we will always be a part of that."
After losing their lead singer Michael Hutchence in 1997, the remaining members questioned whether they should go on, but the band's manager, Chris Murphy said there really was no choice but to continue.
"To lose Michael so young was a tragedy for all of us," he said. "But with this band, their legacy, their music was just so damn good it was always destined to live beyond all of us."
The band decided to end their career in the same Australian city where they started, playing their signature closing song, "Don't Change," with a little help from Matchbox frontman Rob Thomas.
"INXS touring days could never last forever," bandmember Jon Fariss said. "We wanted it to end on a high and it has."
The band is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of their album, KICK with the release of three remastered editions of the 1987 album.
– Shannon Carlin, CBS Local


text: When it's FREE !! I just got a free pentium2 266 ( the board and chip only ) it's mounted in a slot with a heat sink that looks like it's made out of a thin strip of metal bent into fins instead of a milled block. Anyway i only own AMD systems (my 4th now) and never had a system under 300, is there any chance i can run this p2 with passive cooling ? is this the typical HS for this slot type pentium ?


text:
Think your PC and your smartphone don't mix? Think again. MobilEdit!, a £11.90 Windows application (free demo), bridges the gap between the two devices, allowing you to manage your phone and its contents from the big screen of your desktop or laptop.
The £11.90 fee includes a licence for two phones and one PC. A £22.61 Family Edition ups that to 5 phones, while a £38.08 Professional Edition covers 10 phones. A free version, called MobilEdit! Lite, allows you to view your phone's contents, but not write to it. (Weirdly, you can purchase MobilEdit! Pro for £2.99 as an iPhone app and get the Windows version for free.) The Android app - MobilEdit! PC Suite - is free.
MobilEdit! lets manage almost any kind of smartphone, from basic handsets to iPhones and Android smartphones. You connect your phone to your computer via USB, Bluetooth, IrDA,) and the software recognizes it automatically. I tested MobilEdit! with an Android and an iPhone, and it recognized both of them automatically. MobilEdit! can connect to some Android phones over Wi-Fi, but to do so, you need to install the MobilEdit! Connector app on your handset.
Once your phone is connected, MobilEdit! allows you to browse its contents using a Windows Explorer-like folder structure. While iPhone owners may balk at its price tag when iTunes is free, MobilEdit! frees you from the restrictions of iTunes, allowing you to view your iPhone's contents on a more granular level.
In addition to viewing the contents of your phone, MobilEdit! lets you transfer photos and videos to and from your phone, send text messages from your keyboard, and install applications to your phone. It's similar in many ways to Wondershare's MobileGo, but that product only works with Android devices. MobilEdit! works with a much wider variety of devices.
MobilEdit! Basic: Specs
- Microsoft Windows 2000/7/Server 2003/Vista/XP/8
- Microsoft Windows 2000/7/Server 2003/Vista/XP/8
Mobiledit will appeal to anyone who's looking to manage their mobile phone--no matter how basic or advanced it is-- from the comfort of their computer. It lets you examine your phone's contents thoroughly, and back everything up easily.


text:
Advanced Options
Dianne Molvig
This is not your usual Wisconsin Lawyer article. It contains no practice tips, no updates on laws or court decisions, and no discussions of quandaries currently facing attorneys and their profession. On these few pages, Wisconsin Lawyer is presenting an article about ... Wisconsin Lawyer.
It seems only fitting, considering that the magazine reached its 75th anniversary last September. We held off celebrating this historic milestone until this year to coincide with the activities marking the State Bar of Wisconsin's 125th anniversary.
This is our chance to tell the story behind this publication, which faithfully lands in your mailbox or in-basket every month. Allow us to boast just a bit, too, as we're proud of the reputation Wisconsin Lawyer has earned in the bar publishing world.
"The Wisconsin Lawyer is an award-winning magazine, and it's recognized for being a leader," notes Danial Kim, editor and publisher of the ABA Journal, and formerly deputy executive director of the State Bar of Michigan. "I think other state and local bars look to this magazine for how they can do a better job on their publications. I know when I was at the State Bar of Michigan, Wisconsin Lawyer was one of the magazines we looked to and respected very much."
Elevating the magazine to its current stature hasbeen a long process contributed to by many people. Significant among them are the numerous readers who over the years have contributed letters and editorials, been interviewed for articles, written articles and columns themselves, or served on the editorial board. Without their input, we'd have no magazine.
"In my tenure on the editorial board," says Madison attorney Robert Petershack, the editorial board's past-chair and a board member since 1996, "I've been happily surprised at the quality of the submissions we get from volunteers, mostly. It's amazing to me that a magazine that relies so heavily on volunteers is able to consistently produce the high-quality work we produce." In fact, the high quality of legal scholarship evident in substantive articles is recognized by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Board of Bar Examiners (BBE). The BBE, under a Supreme Court Rule effective July 1, 1992, may approve CLE credit for up to 15 hours of actual article preparation time.
So how did Wisconsin Lawyer grow and mature into what it is today? Let the story unfold.
The idea of starting a magazine first surfaced at least as early as 1911, when Bar leaders broached the subject. Back then, members received their bound volumes of the proceedings of the association's annual meetings, at a cost of $1, including all meeting minutes, speeches, and so on. But those proceedings appeared only once a year. A journal published in between could help keep members informed and connected.
Philip Habermann, in A History of the Organized Bar in Wisconsin, 1986, sums up that 1911 effort to launch a magazine with two words: "Nothing happened." Additional attempts to get something rolling in 1919 and on into the 1920s met the same fate, purportedly because the Bar couldn't afford the expense.
Enter Gilson Glasier. He'd already taken on the duties, for which he received a small stipend, of serving as the Bar's secretary-treasurer and transforming his office into an unofficial Bar headquarters - as a sideline to his regular full-time job as state law librarian. In 1927, Glasier stepped up to assume yet another task: editing a Bar magazine that would appear four times a year. To cover the costs, he solicited advertising revenues (see the accompanying sidebar, "Earliest Advertisers"). The first issue emerged that September, and Glasier continued as editor for 22 years.
In 1949, a few months after Habermann became the Bar's first full-time executive secretary (following integration in 1957, he became the Bar's first executive director), he also took on the duties of magazine editor - besides those of administrator, lobbyist, convention planner, training coordinator, investment manager, and numerous others.
In 1974 the Bar hired its first full-time communications coordinator, Paul Jaeger. Habermann retained the title of magazine editor, a practice followed by succeeding executive directors until late 1980. But Jaeger was the person primarily responsible for producing the magazine - editing, design, proofreading - as well as writing press releases and performing other communications tasks.
When Jaeger left in 1979, Joyce (Birrenkott) Hastings took over his duties. She's been at the magazine's helm ever since under various titles, currently as Bar communications director and Wisconsin Lawyer editor. Hastings also serves as staff liaison to the State Bar Communications Committee, which functions as the magazine's editorial board. Notes Oshkosh attorney Alyson Zierdt, a veteran editorial board member, "One constant the whole time I was on the board was Joyce. She is the consummate professional."
That high regard extends beyond the Bar's own. In 2002, Hastings received from her bar publishing peers across the country one of their most prestigious awards, the E.A. "Wally" Richter Leadership Award from the Communications Section of the National Association of Bar Executives.
Just as the names behind the scenes have changed, so has the name of the magazine itself. Dubbed in 1927 as the Bulletin of the State Bar Association of Wisconsin, it became the Wisconsin Bar Bulletin in 1949. Forty years later, a new name, the current one, emerged on the scene, accompanied by some understandable skepticism from readers. "A lot of lawyers had grown up with it being the Bar Bulletin," observes Marna Tess-Mattner, who has served as a Board of Governors liaison and Communications Committee member. "To date, you'll hear lawyers referring to the Bar Bulletin, even though there's been no such entity for 14 years."
Dianne Molvig is a frequent contributor to area and national publications.
Nonetheless, the editorial board deemed a new name necessary. "One of our concerns as I recall," Tess-Mattner says, "was that 'bulletin' implied more of a newsletter or digest type of publication. In the late 1980s, the direction the magazine was heading was to provide greater service to lawyers by including more in-depth articles." Hence, the first issue of Wisconsin Lawyer made its debut in January 1989.
The magazine's publishing frequency shifted from quarterly to bimonthly in 1952 and then to monthly in 1977, during Jaeger's tenure. This move "reflected a need by attorneys for more current information," Jaeger explains. "In the 1970s the pace was stepping up, across society and in the legal profession."
More frequent publishing allowed the magazine's content to be more timely. This step also served to incorporate into the magazine the Wisbar Newsletter, Supreme Court Digest, and the Legislative Bulletin, previously published separately. Pulling them together saved money and allowed all four publications to continue during tight financial times. (The newsletter, with its focus on association news, separated out again in 1982, and still exists today as Inside the Bar.)
To facilitate the merger of publications in 1977, the magazine also was reformatted. It grew from its original 6" x 9" size, once common among trade and professional magazines, to the current 8.5" x 11", and then from 1979 to 1981 it shrunk to an odd 6.5" x 9.75" size, which proved to be unpopular with advertisers. A standard quarter-page ad that worked in other magazines didn't fit with the odd proportions of Wisconsin Lawyer. Soon the 8.5" x 11" dimensions returned to stay.
Another feature that has undergone numerous transformations over the decades is the magazine's cover. Early covers simply included type. The August through December 1957 issues sported the first cover photographs, depicting progress of construction of the then-new Bar Center on W. Wilson Street in Madison. After that, cover photographs, often showing courthouses and law office buildings around the state, were a regular design feature. This marked an early step to boost the visual appeal of the magazine, right from the reader's first glance. It was only the beginning.
As the outside look of the magazine changed, so did its inside pages, in terms of both appearance and content. In the early years, readers encountered page upon page filled with dense type. The only visual variety was in type size - bigger for subheadings and titles. No graphics graced the pages other than an occasional illustration in an advertisement.
Still, the look of the magazine's pages at any given time probably was considered good for its day. Page design evolved gradually over the years, hitting an accelerated pace in the late 1970s. Ripon attorney and former Bar president Steven Sorenson served on the Bar's Communication Committee from 1978 to 1990, and he remembers the major revamping of the magazine undertaken from 1979 to 1981. "We said, 'Let's take this from a stodgy magazine,'" Sorenson recalls, "'to something that can really communicate to our members and give them a useful tool.'" The overhaul resulted in more inside art, increased advertising revenues, and a greater emphasis on serving members' information needs (more on how this has evolved in a bit).
Today, illustrations, use of color, more eye-catching layouts, and other graphic design elements - all facilitated by computer technology - are key components of the magazine. These amount to much more than mere eye candy, Zierdt says.
"As a reader," she says, "I appreciate that there's more attention to physical appearance, such as the use of white space, headings and subheadings, and placement of art. The magazine is certainly more reader-friendly than it was when I started practice 22 years ago. You can home in more easily on what's important to you."
So what were members reading about in the magazine's early decades? Much of the material filling the pages related to Bar activities - summaries of annual conventions, board of governor and committee meetings, and so on. Local bar associations also reported their news.
Filling a huge chunk of the magazine back then were blurbs about individual attorneys and judges - reports on who had bought a home, suffered an appendicitis attack, returned from a trip to Europe, and the like. Personal interests and quirks also got lots of attention. For instance, July 1928 entries report that Judge R.A. Richards of Sparta "has gained a reputation as a weather prophet," and that Judge Frank Carter of Eagle River had a sideline as a magician and ventriloquist, performing for friends in his home-basement theater. These personal items gradually shifted to being more professionally focused (a forerunner of today's "In the News" section), but announcements of such events as weddings and serious illnesses persisted into the late 1940s.
An article, "What a Client Expects of His Lawyer," appeared in the February 1949 issue, a reprint from the Missouri Bar Journal. In the introduction, the author decried the lack of information in legal publications about "practical questions." But his article, he stated, would present precisely that.
The appearance of this and similar articles signaled a shift in the Wisconsin Bar Bulletin's approach in 1949, under Habermann's direction. Articles offering practical guidance or discussing vital everyday concerns of lawyers began to fill the magazine. Rarely were these written specifically for the Bulletin. Most were reprints of speeches presented at state and local bar meetings, or articles from other legal journals.
Thus began a new era in the magazine's content. It shifted to providing more information that was directly related to lawyers' ever-changing information needs and concerns. (For a rundown on content over the years, see the sidebar "What They Were Reading Then.")
But even with this turn to more practical information in the 1950s, the vast majority of articles still were drawn from speeches delivered at Bar meetings or reprints from other journals. With the 1979-81 revamping, mentioned earlier, the editorial content swung more toward articles written specifically for the magazine. "We wanted to disseminate new, useful information," Sorenson points out, "not just rehash what had already been out there for a while."
This bent toward fresh, up-to-date, practical information persists to the present. The current focus, however, stretches beyond just nuts-and-bolts information about practicing law, points out Madison attorney James Peterson, current chair of the magazine's editorial board. "We also publish articles that deal with the values and purposes of the law profession," he says.
One example he cites is a recent article about the USA Patriot Act and the potential risks it poses to civil liberties. "I guarantee that fewer than 10 percent of our members actually need to know about the Patriot Act because of their livelihood," Peterson says. "But I think it's part of being a responsible attorney, of being familiar with the law, our Constitution, and our form of government."
Marquette University Law School professor Daniel Blinka, who coauthors the monthly court digests in Wisconsin Lawyer, believes the magazine fills a gap in the legal literature. "If you pick up a copy of a law review, you find that the articles tend to be long and arcane," he says. "And I'm standing in the middle of a glass house here throwing bricks, because I've written a few of those myself. What I value in Wisconsin Lawyer is that it gives readers timely articles that address, in a succinct, readable way, the issues of interest to practitioners and the courts."
In the late 1960s, Madison attorney Daniel Hildebrand began delivering an annual speech at a Dane County Bar Association meeting in which he highlights what he believes were the most important Wisconsin Supreme Court and (since 1978) Wisconsin Court of Appeals decisions in the prior 12 months.
"Phil Habermann attended one of my speeches," Hildebrand recalls, "and said that he thought it would be a great idea to publish the speech in the Bulletin." Hildebrand consented, and in 1977 his article became a regular annual feature. It still runs today, making Hildebrand one of Wisconsin Lawyer's longest-running regular contributors.
"Joyce [Hastings] tells me it's a very popular, well-read article," he says. "That's why I take the time to do it - to be of service to the members of the Bar."
Out of the hundreds of appellate cases decided each year, how does Hildebrand choose just a few to highlight? "Actually, it's fairly easy," he explains. "I look at those decisions that either change the law or are based on public policy that would be of interest to lawyers in general."
To this day, he also continues to give his annual speech to the Dane County Bar Association, in response to popular demand. The key difference between his speech and his annual contribution to Wisconsin Lawyer, he says, is that "my article doesn't tell the great jokes I have in my speech."
Another regular contributor for many years was Arnold LeBell, who from 1975 through 1986 compiled a monthly digest of Wisconsin Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions. After LeBell retired, Marquette University Law School professors Daniel Blinka and Thomas Hammer took on the task, continuing to the present.
"Our approach," Blinka says, "is to summarize the cases in a way that's helpful to the practicing lawyer - to answer the question, 'Should I read this, and do I need to look at it now?' These are not intended to be analytical critiques or exhaustive summaries." The full text of each decision is available on the WisBar Web site.
Each month, Blinka and Hammer summarize all supreme court decisions, and they usually select a dozen or so of the roughly 30 cases on average each month that the court of appeals orders published. For the latter, "What we look for," Blinka explains, "are cases in which the court of appeals grappled with novel issues, or tried to generate some consistency among what lower courts were doing. Or maybe the court reached out to a different state for a solution to a legal problem."
Timeliness is essential so that readers learn about the decisions as soon as possible. If the courts' published decisions land on Blinka's and Hammer's desks at the end of June, for instance, they have less than two weeks to read all those decisions and prepare their digests to get them in the August Wisconsin Lawyer. "So we drop everything," Blinka says, "and focus our attention on that."
Lawyers who because of the nature of their practices need information sooner on court decisions can always go to the WisBar Web site for instant access. "It's not like they have to sit around wringing their hands waiting on Blinka and Hammer," Blinka says.
But for most attorneys, the monthly synopses provide all they need. "Many lawyers have told me over the years that they rely on the digests as a way to keep up," Blinka says. "In fact, I've talked to several lawyers who say they clip out our digest entries and file them by area of law."
A much more recent regular monthly contributor to arrive in Wisconsin Lawyer is George Brown, who writes a column called "Inside the Bar." It debuted in July 2000, the first issue published after Brown became executive director. "As your new executive director," he wrote back then, "one of my ongoing responsibilities is communicating with you. This column is but one method."
In urging Brown to go ahead with his new column idea, the editorial board felt it would be helpful for members to hear directly from the person running the association day-to-day. "Unless they're actively involved in Bar activities," notes board member Tess-Mattner, "members don't have a clue who the executive director is and what he does. This makes him visible to everyone, instead of just being a faceless name."
Counting among the magazine's regulars, of course, are the dozens of Bar presidents who have written the monthly "President's Page," a standard feature since 1949. In addition to functioning as a barometer on issues affecting the profession and association, presidents' columns reveal the authors' personalities and concerns. For example, Richard E. Sommer (president, 1979-80) passed on writing a monthly column, saying "No one reads it anyway." And who could forget Donald L. Heaney's (1985-86) cozy fireside chats or Gary L. Bakke's (2000-01) heartfelt columns on dealing with depression?
And appearing every year since February 1989 is the annual Wisconsin Lawyer Directory, listing contact information for all Bar members, plus information on courts, state offices, the Bar association, and more. The Directory now serves as the magazine's January issue each year, and survey respondents consistently rank it among the top three most highly valued Bar resources.
As you've seen, Wisconsin Lawyer always has been - and still is - a constantly evolving creation. The process of shaping and reshaping the magazine relies heavily on reader feedback, whether from formal surveys or casual comments. What will the ever-evolving Wisconsin Lawyer look like in the future, in terms of content, format, and editorial approach? Time and readers' needs will tell.
"As the legal profession gets more specialized," points out editorial board chair Peterson, "it's more difficult to identify topics and articles that are of interest to the entire readership. The profession is a lot of different professions, not just one."
How will the magazine's print and online versions (the latter available since 1997) interrelate in the future? Could the online magazine offer expanded content that doesn't fit in the print magazine's limited space?
"We often get articles that are excellent," Peterson says, "but we feel they don't appeal to the broad range of readership." Such articles, aimed at niche segments of the profession, perhaps could be placed in the online Wisconsin Lawyer, which has no space restrictions.
Will the day come when the Wisconsin Lawyer Directory is available only online, rather than as the 700-plus pages of print? In the last readership survey in 1998, 58 percent of responding lawyers said that even if the Directory were available online, they'd still want a print copy. That response may change in coming years. Similarly, readers' expectations about the print and online versions of Wisconsin Lawyer itself will evolve.
Whatever form it takes, Wisconsin Lawyer will continue to play a key role in fulfilling lawyers' information needs and enhancing their relationship with the State Bar. "With today's pace of life and law practice," notes ABA's Kim, "there isn't as much personal interaction anymore among bar members. So the value members get from a bar association in large part comes from things they receive, like a monthly magazine. Having a top-notch publication like Wisconsin Lawyer contributes to members staying connected with the Bar and feeling they're part of a group. It's almost as if the magazine is more of a joining force for the Bar than it was before."
Former State Bar executive director Steve Smay, who now works for Loislaw, agrees. He sees many state and local bars' newsletters and magazines from around the U.S. Wisconsin Lawyer stands out as one of the most professional, and Smay says that conveys a message.
"For a lot of members, the magazine is the only contact they have with their Bar association," he says. "And that's also the case for other people around the country who are in the bar business. The Wisconsin Lawyer is the part of the State Bar of Wisconsin that everybody sees."


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I will say this and some might disagree with me. Namo Amitabha is a super mantra that has tremendous powers to change the person from inside out. This is how mantras work. So I will say that Namo Amitabha is Tantra. By reciting Buddha name gives the powers to get rid of karma, and over time the Mind will be Pure due to that.Lazy_eye wrote:Hi,
This came up in an earlier thread but it was a bit of a tangent so I would like to raise it again here.
Buddha name recitation, on the surface, sounds like the simplest of methods, except that it should be supported by 信心/shinjin. Otherwise, isn't it just a method for calming the mind, no different than counting breaths or even repeating some nonsense syllables? It's 信心 which makes the difference.
But how does one develop this? I'd be interested in hearing how both the Chinese and Japanese Pure Land schools approach this question.
Since, as I understand it, in Jodo Shinshu the nembutsu is seen more as an expression of gratitude, I might also ask: how does gratitude come about? I am asking this as someone who is neither very grateful nor devout by nature.
On a related note, what is the link between Other Power and sunyata? Could Amitabha be seen as a personification of sunyata -- or to ask it differently, would contemplation of Amitabha be a way to develop realization of sunyata? Again I would be interested in responses from across the traditions.
Practitioners can reach Concentration which is comparable to Concentration of Chan, Tantra, and others. In other words, practitioners can reach enlightenment through practicing Pure Land. They can go and come as they please, no longer bound by death. When they want to go to Pure Land, they can any time. If they want to stay on earth for a little bit, they can.
Consider Conduct/Concentration/Wisdom and you will see that Pure Land is also meditation. Tantra is meditation. Chan is meditation. Others are meditation also because all lead to Concentration.
As for all forms of Buddhism, you have to practice to experience for yourself especialy with Pure Land you will definitely experience it through practice. There is no other way around it besides practice. Thinking will not give you the experience or the answer.


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TWO HARBORS, Minn., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A junior varsity soccer player in northern Minnesota suffered a concussion and other injuries when a deer knocked her down while she was running along a trail.
Kaydi Hooey, 13, told the Lake County News-Chronicle she and her Two Harbors High School teammates were running last Thursday when she heard the other girls start screaming.
"I heard something behind me and I turned around and it hit me," Hooey said. "I was like, 'Oh my God, did this happen to me?'"
Her mother said the hit was "like a football tackle."
"She was hit in the lower back, lifted off her feet, carried a short distance and fell to the ground," Janis Hooey said in an email to the newspaper. "The deer continued into the woods."
Hooey wasn't so lucky. She had a concussion, a gash on her back, muscle spasms and assorted bumps and bruises. She also is riding the bench for a week while she recuperates.
Still, Hooey showed good humor in her Facebook update: "I was swept off my feet by a deer, dumped and now am heartbroken," it said.


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Difference between revisions of "Zaurus"
(First edit)
|Line 3:
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* collie
* collie
* c7x0 (corgi, shepherd, husky, boxer)
* c7x0 (corgi, shepherd, husky, boxer)
* akita
* akita
Revision as of 09:40, 26 August 2009
some technical (!) information about the Zaurus machines
- collie
- poodle
- c7x0 (corgi, shepherd, husky, boxer)
- akita
- spitz (borzoi, terrier)
- tosa
For the Zaurus a special kernel+initramfs has been developed. This special-purpose kernel is small enough to be flashed on NAND and features a frambefuffer graphical menu for the selection of the boot media containing the kernel which will be kexec'ed.
Multipartitioned cards and lot of filesystems supported. The kernels to be launched are searched in /boot of each available partition. There is a also configuration file /boot/boot.cfg allowing to pass a custom cmdline and specify the label and the icon.
How to install:
Just unpack zaurus-installer-YOURMACHINE.tar.gz on a free partition: the package contains the kexecboot-kernel and the updater.sh utility. Then proceed as usual for flashing (switch off, pull battery out, insert battery again, before inserting AC plug press OK+Power On, in the Japanese Menu select 4 and finally 3 for SD card or 4 for CF). File:Http://downloads.conics.net/pda/zaurus-sl-c700/service-menus/maint-menu.jpg
For SL-5500 (collie) and optionally for other Zaurus too, flashing is possible just using the routines of the original firmware: reset the unit, Press C, and D button during restart.


text: Origen: I died laughing when Browder said, "We haven't tried c4 yet sir" since that is their solution to everything. I had some pagh wraith flashbacks but I'm still excited. I was just thinking that the creepy Pryor dude who took Daniel and Vala to the celestial palace looked kind of like Darth Vader after his helmet was taken off in ROTJ when he used the FORCE to STRANGLE the village guy!!


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DENVER—A panhandling ban on its way to Colorado Springs faces a legal challenge from the Colorado ACLU.
The civil-liberties group announced Wednesday that it was filing a lawsuit in federal court in Denver to block the ban, which they say stifles speech.
The Colorado Springs City Council gave final approval Tuesday to a no-solicitation zone covering 12 blocks downtown. It takes effect next month.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include street musicians, advocacy groups and a wheelchair-bound panhandler.
ACLU legal director Mark Silverstein said in a statement that the panhandling ban is too broad and suppresses speech.
City Attorney Chris Melcher says the ordinance was intended to respond to requests to curb panhandling. City officials say the ordinance won't stop Salvation Army bell ringers from seeking donations on private property downtown.


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MLM782 - Indian Law
Unit details
|2018 unit information
|Enrolment modes:
Trimester 3: Study Tour
|Credit point(s):
|EFTSL value:
|Unit chair:
L Xynas
|Incompatible with:
|Contact hours:
Students will be required to attend a supervised study tour
For further information on this study tour, please refer to the below study tour link:
This unit has two principal aims. First, to introduce the current Indian legal system and, second, to study in detail some aspects of Indian commercial law, particularly law in relation to commercial transactions in India. The unit introduces Indian legal history and India's law-making mechanisms and then examines in more detail some key topics in Indian commercial law. After having completed the unit, you should have an understanding of both the underlying principles of the legal system, and Indian Commercial Law. Furthermore, you will have some exposure to the particular rules or principles which affect commercial transactions with India. The unit is designed to maximise the benefits to be gained from the study tour in India, drawing on the expertise available at the Indian institutions.
Written Assignment 1 (Session Review) 500 words 10%, Written Assignment 2 (Reflective Journal) 2000 words 30%, Written Assignment 3 (Memorandum of Advice) 3000 words 60%
Unit Fee Information
Click on the fee link below which describes you:


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Sample Lesson Plans
The History of the BALCLUTHA
The History of the Schooner C. A. THAYERThe schooner C. A. THAYER is a wood-hulled, three-masted schooner designed and built to bring lumber from the forests of the Northwest to the fast building turn-of-the-century cities of California. Built by Hans Bendixson in 1895 at Fairhaven, the THAYER is 156 feet long and 36 feet wide, large for a three master. She could carry 575,000 board feet of lumber.
Owned and operated by the E. K. Wood Lumber Company and named after a partner in the firm, the THAYER carried lumber from the company mills in Hoquaim, Washington, to San Francisco, San Pedro and San Diego. She occasionally went to Guaymas, Australia and Honolulu.
Getting the lumber from the forests of Oregon and Washington states was a dangerous adventure. There were no wharves along the rugged redwood coast. Schooners usually had to sail through fog and inshore swells to anchor in shallow coves or dogholes, though the relief that these dogholes offered from the wind and waves was slight.
The men who sailed the coastal schooners were well seasoned sailors, veterans of the deep sea trade lured to coastwise service by the hopes of good food, good pay and frequent stays in port. They expected the work to be dangerous. Coastal waters were tricky and dogholes treacherous. The slight mishandling of a vessel could prove disastrous. And the danger did not disappear once a safe anchorage had been made. It was then time to load the lumber.
Mills usually operated high on the bluffs, some 75 feet above the water. Wooden slides or chutes were built to carry the lumber to the vessels decks. The lumber is sent down the chute, near the end of which a man operates a brake to check the lumber as it leaves the chute. As each man gets a piece of timber he runs with it, lays it down exactly where it belongs, and returns to the chute. When the hold is full, the deck is loaded, the larger part of the cargo of a lumber schooner goes on deck. The work goes well enough when water is comparatively smooth; but when the vessel rolls, the chute during some moments is high above the deck. This makes it difficult for a man below to catch a timber at the right instant and get the right hold. If he makes a single slip, or if the man at the brake does not apply it in time, he may be injured or killed. (Captain Carl Rydell Historic Ships of San Francisco, pp 58 - 59)
The C. A. THAYER, although large for a schooner, was not immune to the perils of coastwise sailing. Twice the THAYER had serious mishaps while carrying lumber from the companies mill to the southern ports. In November 1903, the THAYER landed ashore on the north spit of Grays Harbor. She later floated off with only the loss of a rudder. In 1912, she ran into severe weather just off of Eureka. The seas were so rough that her seams opened. The crew escaped safely, but the C. A. THAYER had to be towed into San Francisco for extensive repairs.
Besides carrying lumber, the C. A. THAYER spent many years as a fishing vessel. Her first 13 years as a fishing schooner were spent transporting salmon from Alaska to San Francisco. In 1924 the C. A. THAYER moved to the Bering Sea and fished for cod.
Sailors were paid based on the seasons catch. If, for any reason, be it foul weather, shipwreck or other mishap, no fish were delivered, no sailors got paid. Even in a favorable year, wages were low. Sailors were paid 1 1/2 cents per pound of fish.
Living conditions were harsh as well. All sailors slept in the focísíle. It was a dungeon with no portholes, dimly lit by cheap kerosene lamps. A breath of air fluttered through a small scuttle but brought little relief to the unwashed herd occupying cramped bunks. Bedbugs, fleas and lice shared the quarters, and the stench of rotten fish and stinking bilge water nauseated nearly everyone. (p. 63)
By the year 1912, steam powered schooners were making a place for themselves in the coastal trade. Sailing vessels were at the mercy of the elements, while steam schooners, with more control placed firmly in the hands of the shipmaster, could maneuver in and out of dogholes with little trouble. During the following years, sails were slowly replaced by steam. In 1950 the C. A. THAYER was the last sailing ship in commercial use on the Pacific Coast. While the THAYER was still an efficient vessel, she was retired.
KnotsMost of the knots we tie today are old, even ancient. Over the centuries, they have been invented, refined and perfected, fitting many different needs. There are 4 basic areas that determine the type of knot to use.
Relative strength: Knots weaken rope. The strength of a knot depends on how much or how little it reduces the strength of the rope. The tighter the frictional pressure in the knot or the sharper the turn (or curve), the weaker the rope becomes.
Speed and ease of tying: Often times you will need to be able to tie or untie a knot quickly.
Bulk: The bulkier the knot, the more it will damped a jerk. Other times, a knot may to be too bulky for the space allotted.
Reliability: Not all knots will hold in all positions. Some knots will slip unless there is even pull from both ends. Other knots will hold fast in any circumstances.
There are certain guidelines for choosing and tying knots. There are specific knots for specific uses.
Stopper: Stopper knots, such as the overhand or figure 8, prevent the end of the line from slipping through the eye or a hole.
Hitches: Hitches, such as the larks head, cleat hitch or the clove hitch, secure a line to something, i.e., a spar or deck ring.
Loops: Loops, such as a bowline, can be dropped over an object, such as a bollard.
Bends: Bends, such as a sheet bend, join two ropes to form a longer piece.
(Cotton clothes line works well as knot tying line. Each student should have 2 feet of line.)
Ship Talk and Ship People
Parts of the Ship
Galley Kitchen
Rigging Terms
Knots and Other Miscellaneous Nautical Words


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Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, July 13, 2012, 12:00 AM
Town Square
Mountain View set to OK Chik-Fil-A
Original post made on Jul 12, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, July 13, 2012, 12:00 AM
Comments (2)
a resident of Cuesta Park
on Jul 12, 2012 at 3:36 pm
Good to see MV council supporting the rule of law and Constitution - while we may not agree with Chick Fil A opinions, they have the same rights as pro-gay businesses and groups.
We all have the right to not patronize a business. We don't have a right to use city or state codes/laws/process to to prevent them from operating. Even raising the point in any discussion of the city decision is an affront to everyone who values diversity and free speech.
As the ACLU frequently notes, it's easy to be pro-speech when someone is saying something you like, but the real test of your tolerance is when someone is saying something you don't like.
a resident of Waverly Park
on Jul 19, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Good Luck Chik Fil A, you're just another fast food chain...the primary reason to stay away.. (come think of it, we never went to Sizzler either!)
This is not the midwest.. We are lucky to have a huge number of great locally owned healthy, innovative, fair priced and fun restaurants, to support some Atlanta Georgia anti-gay fast food heart disease/obesity provider...
I dont' expect Chick Fil A will be out there in the community supporting local events and charities, Like Hobbees and many other local supporters
Couples: When Wrong Admit It; When Right; Shut Up
By Chandrama Anderson | 0 comments | 867 views


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Hi Guys
i am looking to the best way to get my form data populating based on DDl selection. i am loading data into Javascript arrays and populate which becomes slow with number of records..
Any fastest solution ?
iam using CF MX7 and we;re may be planning to move to CF 9 but do not know Wehen ?
iam looking for now msolution
thoughts ?


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Due to the boards being down, I am extending the voting deadline. If you haven't voted then you now have until Friday 17th November 8PM GMT
Your vote counts. Please take part.
Due to the boards being down, I am extending the voting deadline. If you haven't voted then you now have until Friday 17th November 8PM GMT
Your vote counts. Please take part.
Oh, sweet Merlin, you witches are EVIL. And to think you're supposed to be friends!
Goodbye – the opaleye <9,3>
The Snowball Effect -ToBeOrNot <3,9>
Bravery School – Weasley Mom<6,2>
Back To the Shack - ToBeOrNot<4,6>
Requiem – the opaleye <7,0>
Nine Letters Weasley Mom<1,10>
So the scores work out thusly
the opaleye <16,3> +13
ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor <7, 15> - 8
Weasley Mom <7,12> - 5
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Jess, who has been a stellar competitor. She takes with her not only participation points, (5)but third place points (5) and this wonderful banner created by the amazinglyfantasticWholockaficionado –minnabird!
And I declare Julia (the opaleye) to be the winner – again! Is this snake going to give any other house a chance?
Here were the prompts and who set them ~
Lori set:
For Julia:
Write a drabble in which Snape is paired with a female Hogwarts professor from the trio era. They don't need to be in love, but there should be genuine positive feelings involved (not just a sexual relationship). A fanged Frisbee must have significance in the scene.
For Jess:
Write an Umbridge-centric drabble in which she is portrayed in a sympathetic light. It should be set during the time she was at Hogwarts during OOTP, and must be from the perspective of a canon character who isn't Filch, a Slytherin, or a Death Eater. No flashbacks, please.
Jess set
For Lori:
Write a drabble set at Hogwarts during Harry's Horcrux Hunt. It must be in the perspective of a student that was at no point in Dumbledore's Army but was, at some point, a victim of one of the Carrows' cruelty. Said cruelty does not have to occur during the drabble's timeline, but it does need to be alluded to clearly. Just in the interest of interestingness, make this student a canon character (interview or book canon — your choice) no older than a sixth year.
For Julia:
In this drabble, I'd like you to feature a Marauder Era Slytherin (as there are few characters whose houses are specified, you are allowed to make an educated decision as to who fits the bill, but nothing canon contradictory) who was approached about joining both the Death Eater Ranks AND the Order of the Phoenix. By the end of the drabble, the character's decision must be made clear, whether it is to join the former or latter. However, this character cannot be Severus Snape, Regulus Black, Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, or Narcissa Black Malfoy.
Julia set
Prompt for Jess: Write a drabble set on the last day at Hogwarts for the Marauders. Your drabble must feature all four Marauders but they mustn't mention Lily at all and it should end on a happy note.
Prompt for Lori: Who knows what the professors get up to in the staff room? Write a Marauder-Era drabble in which Severus Snape is caught hiding in the staff room by someone other than Dumbledore or McGonagall. Why he was there and what he saw or overheard is up to you.
Oh, and a side issue. The winner of most evil Bellatrix worthy prompt goes to Lori, for the evility that was the 'Sympathetic Umbridge' prompt. Who would have thought a gentle Hufflepuff could be so naughty? (Well, I knew, but the rest of you probably thought we just sat in our common room knitting socks.)
I must move on and stop sobbing.
And so it came to pass that we were down to the two. Their drabbles have been read, dissected and voted on for the past ten weeks, and much enjoyment has been had from their creativity. All the brawlers have angsted and very probably hated the barmaid for her ebil prompts.
But we have to have a winner, and so I bring you the last prompt.
'Last Spell'
You may interpret this in any way you choose. The only stipulation is that the character you use must be mentioned in every book in the Harry Potter series. So. Be. Careful. You can't, for instance, use Wendelin the Weird because she's only mentioned in Prisoner of Azkaban.
(Also, I only mean the actual books and not things like Quidditch Through the Ages, or The Lions of Gryffindor ... *remember to insert smiley face here, or they won't realise you're joking*)
The barmaid exits sure in the knowledge that sometimes the easiest looking of prompts can be the very devil to write.
All drabbles need to be 500 words or less.
Form for the drabble:
Send your drabbles to me by Thursday 24th November 8pm GMT.PHP Code:
Word Count:
Last edited by Equinox Chick; 11-18-2011 at 09:52 PM.
I'm not sure whether I should say something or not. Below are two brilliant drabbles from two outstanding brawlers. They have battled fiercely to reach the final, and it's been hard - blooming hard.
Please read them, take into account the prompt, and then vote for your favourite.
The poll will close on Monday 28th November at 8PM GMT
Title: Life and Trains
Word Count: 499
Rating/Warning: 3-5th
A/N: From HBP, The White Tomb:"He had never attended a funeral before; there had been no body to bury when Sirius had died. He did not know what to expect and was a little worried about what he might see, about how he would feel... He felt in his pocket for the cold chain of the fake Horcrux, which he now carried with him everywhere, not as a talisman, but as a reminder of what it had cost and what remained still to do."
Harry pressed his fingers to his dormitory window. It was already a beautiful day. The sky was a cloudless, brilliant blue that stood vast and bright against the greens of the forest and grounds. A breeze played at the tops of the trees, pushing across the surface of the lake until it sparkled like gold. The sun itself was the worst offenderblaring on relentlessly as if everything was the same today as it had been yesterday.
His belongings were packed and ready for the Hogwarts Express, which Harry was scheduled to board in a matter of hours. And with that thought, the train joined breakfast, the sun, and the clear blue sky in a list of things behaving as if the death of Albus Dumbledore was nothing more than a glitch in the regular way of things.
Life and trains, it seemed, stopped for nothing. Not even this.
On the lawn, Hagrid and a wizard Harry didnt recognize were magically arranging white wooden chairs in soldier-like rows. Compared to what hed seen in the cave, it was a mechanical, mundane sort of magic. Even now, Harry couldnt look at the lake without falling into the memory: hands and arms bony limbs reaching, pulling him to the edge, drawing him toward a murky, crowded grave.
He dropped his forehead against the glass and closed his eyes. He saw the fire, glorious flames dancing, guiding the tiny boat to safety. Even in memory, it was overwhelming. Harry couldnt help wondering if thered ever been any kind of magic that hadnt bent to the old mans wishes, any spell hed not mastered. And yet, in a night so full of Dumbledores extraordinary spell work, the last had simply been to immobilize Harry.
The irony twisted in his gut: Dumbledores final act had rendered him useless, but now that he was gone, Harrys responsibility was greater than ever. He hadnt been able to help then, but now, the future of their world rested on his shoulders. From here, he had to set out on the same path that had led Dumbledore to that long fall from the Astronomy Tower.
Worst of all, Harry would have to go it alone.
No more help would come from the one who had known everything. How could he leave his friends to pursue the Horcruxes? Where would he start? How could he possibly succeed when the greatest wizard of all time had fallen short?
The questions paralyzed Harry as the spell had done, but he knew hed have to bear the unbearable now.
He glanced again at the lawn, now set for ceremony. Too soon, hed sit in one of those chairs. Hed speak to his friends of an unknown future. Then hed board the Hogwarts Express like usual.
Hed have no choice but to take a lesson from life and trains, and go on.
Title: The Close
Word Count: 419
Rating/Warning: 1st-2nd years; Character Death
James leaves the curtains open. He likes to see it as a rebellion against the confines of the Fidelius Charm. I am not a prisoner of war, he thinks. I will not be controlled. He leaves the curtains open even when the darkness beyond feels like its seeping into his bones.
He sits on the sofa with his son, his beautiful boy. Wisps of coloured light and smoke spurt from his wand. Harry gurgles and his chubby little fists flail about as he tries to grab hold of something that isnt real, something that doesnt truly exist. James smiles and he can feel Lily watching them from the kitchen but he wont look around, he never looks around because this time is just for Harry.
Sometimes, when he looks at his son, it is hard to imagine the future because it feels so distant and foreign. When he looks at his son he can see a glorious, blazing death that swallows James whole. He will fight for Harry and Lily and Sirius and Remus and Peter but he knows that he may not live, and that, for all its worth, is just fine. What is one life lost to save so many more?
Lilys hand is on his shoulder now. He throws his wand aside with a laugh that cuts through his thoughts because he is happy, he is really happy in this moment. He looks into Lilys eyes as he places their son in her arms.
One life lost to save so many more is nothing. The only problem is that when James and Lily lie side by side at night and he looks at her, her eyes blaze with the same glorious death, too. He worries for his son growing up without them, and the memories not yet lost. That Harry will live is not a mere hope but an inevitability because he will never, never let that thing touch his son.
Sometimes, when he looks at Harry, he doesnt feel like James Potter but something more. He feels infinite.
So, when the door bursts open and his wand is on the sofa its all Lily and Harry and nonono because how could he be so careless? Hes not ready for this and hes not ready for this death but he will go forth bravely anyway because this time the light shooting from Voldemorts wand is real.
I am not a prisoner of war, he thinks.
And then there is green.
And then there is silence.
Thank you to all the brawlers who have made this a memorable competition.
And so it came to pass that the Fifth TTB Brawl was over.
It has been a brawl of many highs and no lows. (I refuse to accept that setting Marauder one week was a low. It was my personal favourite). Hermione's birthday was celebrated. Deception was practised. Many of the Potterverse characters did not 'feel as free as they were told they were' and Demelza Robbins emerged as the hot girl of Hogwarts.
It's over now, and I know you want the results. Two blooming amazing drabblers were left. Julia (the opaleye) and Lori (Weasley Mom). Both wrote sublime final drabbles. Either would have been a worthy winner, but there could only be one.
Let me also stress here that the majority of the comments show how people were genuinely torn.
Oh my god. Both drabbles were so outstanding, it's eating me away to have to choose one. Though there can't be two winners I think both brawlers should know what fabulous contestants and writers they are, and how much I admire them both.
But the winner, with a score of twelve votes to two is .....
JULIA – the opaleye for the gloriously glorious glory that was The Close.
She gets 15 points for winning the brawl. 5 points participation and .... 27 points for individual stage wins.(She may also sleep now ....)
Let us not forget Lori (Weasley Mom)who played a blinder through all the rounds. She is awarded 10 points for second place, 5 points participation and 7 points for individual stage wins.
Your shinyness is below. Please credit minnabird when you wear your banner.
Brawlers, you can all hold your heads up high. It's been a lot of fun, with only a few hiccups (like the three weeks when the barmaid kept deleting LuNaLoVeGoOdLoVeR's drabbles – it really didn't have anything to do with the difficulty I have typing your name ...)
Here is the list of participants. Thank you, everyone. I have enjoyed the ride, so I hope you have, too.
The Opaleye (47)
The Fallen:
Weasley Mom (22)
ToBeornotToHave a LongUserName (10)
Coolh5000 (10)
Karaley dargen (5)
TM wandstick (5)
JK salmeier (5)
LunaLoveGoodLover (5)
Psijupiter (5)
Gwendalynne (5)
MapleandPhoenixfeather (5)
TheCursedQuill (5)
iMusic17 (5)
ron lover (5)
Zach Smith
Dennis Creevey (unable to attend)
Gryffinbore – 30
Flufflepuff – 32
Ravingmore 15
SSSSSSSlytherWINNNNN – 62
Madame Carmerta
Last edited by Equinox Chick; 11-28-2011 at 09:20 PM.


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March 8, 2012 by Matthew T.
Spider Danger
2012 / d. Andrea Ricca
Zero budget filmmaker Andrea Ricca (THE FURFANGS) returns with a new 5-minute sci-fi/horror short, guaranteed to bring out your inner arachnophobe! When a man wakes up to discover his home has been invaded by dozens of wall-crawling intruders, he must rely on only his wits and his trusted bug-spray to survive! Armed with a sharp eye, a keen sense of filmmaking, and some serious computer-animation skills, Mr. Ricca once again succeeds in creating an entertaining and highly enjoyable short film. It reminds us that it is possible to make a film without a budget, provided you're passionate enough (and creative enough) to see it through to the end. And for those who gripe about CGI monsters, he challenges our biases and shows us that if utilized well, computerized creatures can still be effective. Also: kudos to Antonio DeLuise for the very fitting and complementary musical score. To watch SPIDER DANGER and the rest of Mr. Ricca's short films, visit his website: http://www.andrearicca.com/


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According to ProBasketballTalk:
The Milkwaukee Bucks are open to talks of moving Brandon Jennings during draft day if the offer is right. ProBasketballTalk says of course the Knicks will be interested but rags on us because of the fact that we supposedly don't have enough to squire him.
I love Jennings despite his struggles this past season and he is a hometown NY kid who we passed up on draft day. Would we have what it takes to land him if Milwaukee was open to trading him?


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…modules are located conveniently inside the power supply and deliver pump light via a single core pump fiber to the laser head. The single core fiber homogenizes the pump beam profile over the entire module lifetime and rounds up Verdi's leading pump diode module lifetime. Performance You can Rely…
Coherent has locations across the globe that are available to provide support for any product, service or inquiry.
Visit our Contact Page to connect with any of our global sites.
Corporate Headquarters
Coherent Inc.
5100 Patrick Henry Drive
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email: email@example.com
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text:
Nov. 15
Inappropriate behavior
9:35 a.m. — 2800 block of Eighth Street. Suspicious Person. A concerned mother of a 17-year-old girl told police that a man honked at her daughter while she was walking to a sandwich shop. Later that day, the same man approached the girl at a fifth-grade awards ceremony they both were attending. The man, who was at the school for his son's awards ceremony, told police he honked at her because he thought she was beautiful, but that he didn't know how old she was.
Click here to view this week's Sarasota Observer Cops Corner.
Nov. 23
Location lost
10:45 a.m. — 7400 block of 49th Avenue E. Burglary to an unoccupied conveyance. Unknown persons entered the complainant's unlocked vehicle and took the GPS unit that was inside.
Click here to view this week's East County Observer Cops Corner.
Nov. 24
Dial 'M' for 'Misplaced Call'
12:49 a.m. — 5400 block of Sandhamn Place. Abandoned 911 Call. A man told police that his fax machine might have called 911 while he and his wife were sleeping. The man said that he tried unplugging the fax machine after police received repeated 911 calls from the residence over the summer and plans to have his phone lines checked out.
Click here to view this week's Longboat Observer Cops Corner.
Nov. 11
Expensive taste
2 p.m. — 600 block of Avenida del Norte. Burglary. A woman reported she was out of the house between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and had locked the house when she left. When she returned, she noticed someone had opened the rear bedroom window forcibly and removed jewelry from the top of her dresser. She estimated the total value of the missing items — a diamond-encrusted dress watch, a necklace with three pendants containing sapphires and diamonds and an heirloom ring with diamonds and onyx — at $5,800. She said she had no idea who would have taken the items. The deputy noted many other pieces of jewelry were on display and in the box where the women said the missing items had been kept. The deputy added, "It appeared the subject(s) had an eye for the expensive jewelry and left the inexpensive items behind."
Click here to view this week's Pelican Press Cops Corner.


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Summaries of EU Legislation
Summaries of EU legislation: direct access to the main summaries page.
- Archived: true
Commission Opinion [COM(97) 2003 final - not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(98) 702 final - not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(1999) 510 final - not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(2000) 710 final - not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(2001) 700 final - SEC(2001) 1753 - not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(2002) 700 final - SEC(2002) 1409 - not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(2003) 676 final - SEC(2003) 1211 - not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(2004) 657 final - SEC(2004) 1200 - not published in the Official Journal]
Commission Report [COM(2005)534 - SEC(2005)1354 - not published in the Official Journal]
Treaty of Accession to the European Union [Official Journal L 157 of 21.06.05]
In its July 1997 Opinion, the Commission considered that it was too early to decide on Romania's participation in the euro area immediately upon its accession. It affirmed that Romania's participation in the third stage of economic and monetary union (EMU) while not being a member of the euro area would continue to pose a problem. Romania was therefore requested to make its legislation on the central bank fully compatible with Community requirements and to show how effective its monetary and exchange-rate policies were. As for the free movement of capital, the liberalisation measures introduced by Romania were felt to be too limited though generally consistent with the relevant Europe Agreement.
The November 1998 Report noted that Romania had made some progress in its preparations for joining EMU, but these efforts needed to be sustained, notably to reinforce the financial sector.
The 1999 and 2000 Reports emphasised that significant progress was necessary in order to implement the acquis in this area.
In its November 2001 Report, the Commission noted that no major development had taken place regarding alignment on the EMU acquis.
The October 2002 Report noted that Romania had made only limited progress in adopting the EMU acquis.
In its November 2003 Report the Commission noted that Romania had made no progress in adopting the EMU acquis since the previous regular report.
In its October 2004 Report the Commission welcomes the major progress achieved by Romania in aligning its legislation on the EMU acquis. However, it calls on the Romanian authorities to continue their efforts on this front, particularly with regard to the implementation of institutional and legal reform, and the prohibiting of privileged public sector access to financial institutions and public sector financing by the central bank.
In its October 2005 Report the Commission notes that Romania is meeting its commitments and that it complies with the requirements arising from accession talks in the field of EMU. Some further adjustments of legislation are still required.
The Treaty of Accession was signed on 25 April 2005 and accession took place on 1 January 2007.
The third stage of EMU began on 1 January 1999. This date entailed far-reaching changes for all Member States, even those not taking part in the euro area from the outset.
In the economic sphere, the keystone is the coordination of national policies (national convergence programmes, general economic guidelines, multilateral surveillance and excessive-deficit procedure). All countries are required to comply with the Stability and Growth Pact, to refrain from direct financing of the government deficit by the central bank, to prohibit privileged access by public authorities to financial institutions and to have liberalised capital movements.
Member States not in the euro area conduct an independent monetary policy and participate in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) under certain conditions. Central banks must be independent and must have price stability as their primary objective. Lastly, exchange-rate policy is regarded as a matter of common concern by all Member States, which must be in a position to participate in the new exchange-rate mechanism.
Even though accession entails acceptance of the objective of EMU, compliance with the convergence criteria is not a precondition. However, since those criteria are indicative of a macroeconomic policy geared to achieving stability, all Member States must, in due course, comply with them on a permanent basis.
Following the fall of the Ceaucescu regime, Romania became engulfed in a deep economic and social crisis. The Romanian authorities failed to show sufficient political will to carry out reforms. It was only after the November 1996 legislative and presidential elections that the new government began to implement a radical programme of macroeconomic stabilisation and structural reforms. The 1998 report noted that Romania had made little headway in establishing a market economy and its ability to withstand competitive pressures and market forces had deteriorated. A year later, the country was still suffering from the absence of a well-defined economic strategy. The economic outlook did not fundamentally improve in 2000. The 2002 report noted that Romania had not made any headway as regards real convergence with the European Union (EU) in terms of per capita income. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, expressed in purchasing power parity, was equivalent to only 25% of the EU average in 2001. The 2003 report deplored that once again, despite strong economic growth, Romania had failed to make any headway on this front. Despite a mixed macroeconomic performance the 2004 report registered increases in stabilisation contributing to sustained economic recovery and a decline in inflation. GDP per capita reached 30% of the EU average in 2003 but regional differences are deepening, with per capita income in Bucharest almost double the national average. In 2004, GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power parity reached 31.3% of the EU-25 average. The 2005 report states that Romania is a viable market economy. Growth in real GDP was 8.3% in 2004 but fell back to 4.9% during the first half of 2005 as a result of floods and a drop in exports.
As regards economic activity, the economy has gradually recovered from the 1997-99 recession. In 1997 GDP fell by 6.1%. In 1998 real GDP again contracted by 4.8% in 1998 and by 1.2% the following year, mainly owing to the sharp reduction in domestic demand. However, economic activity rose by 1.8% in 2000, bringing to an end the recession that had resulted in an aggregate decline of 13% in GDP since 1997. After staging this modest recovery in 2000, GDP rose by as much as 5.3% in 2001 and by 3.1% in the first quarter of 2002. Between 2001 and 2003 it rose by around 5% annually, mostly as a result of a substantial increase in household consumption (7.1% in 2003), investment (9.2% in 2003) and exports.
The 2003 report noted that the Romanian economy had expanded by 4.9% in 2002 and that 2004 would be the fifth consecutive year of growth at an average rate of 0.8%. However, since mid-2003 growth has been showing signs of imbalance. Economic activity nonetheless remains buoyant and GDP continues to grow (6.6% in the first half of 2004). Growth in real GDP was 8.3% in 2004 but fell back to 4.9% in early 2005 as a result of floods and a drop in exports. According to the 2005 report, the Romanian economy is characterised by strong economic growth, a deficit in current transactions and a slowdown in inflation.
As regards public finances, the introduction of budgetary discipline in the public sector in 1997 was a notable success. The deficit contracted to 3.7% of GDP in 1997 instead of the 4.9% forecast. The trend continued with a deficit of 3.3% in 1998. In 1999 the government tightened its budget policy, leading to a fall in the consolidated budget deficit to 3.8% of GDP. After several years of sustained budget consolidation, the deficit stabilised, falling from 4.5% of GDP in 2000 to 3.4% in 2001. Moreover, after shooting up sharply, the debt-to-GDP ratio levelled off in 2000 and was gradually cut back to 23.3% in 2001 and then to 21.8% by the end of 2003.
The 2004 report shows that the budget deficit remains high and the primary deficit has reappeared. The spending policy adopted by the Romanian authorities continued to undermine budgetary recovery in 2003 and budgetary discipline has slackened somewhat. However, the consolidated budget deficit has been contained at around 0.6% of GDP in the first half of 2004 with the deficit forecast for the full year estimated at 1.6%. The 2004 budget makes provision for a substantial primary deficit (1.4% of GDP) but the Romanian authorities are attempting to limit it to 0.1% of GDP. Revenue now stands at 30% of GDP and spending remains stable, at 32.3% of GDP.
The 2005 report notes that Romanian public finances are vulnerable to a slowdown in growth: while growth remains vigorous, budgetary consolidation has been very modest. The public finance deficit fell to 1.4% of GDP in 2004, while the debt was reduced to 18.5% of GDP
The policy of the Romanian National Bank has been geared to combating inflation by tightly controlling the monetary base. It has partly achieved its objective: the year-on-year rate of increase in consumer prices plummeted from 177.5% in June 1997 to 50.8% in September 1998. At the end of 1998 inflation was below the official target. In 1999 the increase in prices was 45.8%, lower than in 1998. Annual inflation, which still stood at 45.7% in 2000, fell to 34.5% in 2001. Year-on-year inflation also declined sharply to 23.0% in July 2002. The gradual reduction in the inflation rate continued. At 17.8% in December 2002, compared with the official target of 22%, the inflation rate calculated on a year-on-year basis declined even further to 14.2% in August 2003. The trend continued with the 2003 year-end rate at 14.1%. During the first half of 2004 prices were up on average 12.8% compared to the previous year, in line with the year-end inflation target of 9%. However, real wage growth (8.9% in the first six months of 2004) could result in an overheating in demand, jeopardising the slowdown of inflation.
The Commission notes in its 2005 report that monetary policy continues to support the disinflation process. The target of 9% inflation in 2004 was met. An upward adjustment in administered prices, a large increase in salaries and vigorous domestic demand combined to slow down disinflation in 2005. As a result, the central bank was obliged to raise the inflation target from 6 to 7.5% for 2005.
Although the exchange rate is officially floating freely, the National Bank has intervened in the market on several occasions to curb the depreciation of the national currency, which came under increasingly strong pressure, thereby stabilising the exchange market and avoiding a major financial crisis. In 1998, towards the end of the summer, the serious deterioration in the current-account deficit led the National Bank to abandon its policy of seeking a real appreciation in the exchange rate which had helped to hold down inflation. Between the end of October 1998 and the end of June 1999 the Romanian currency lost more than two thirds of its nominal value. The exchange rate fell by a third against the US dollar between October 1999 and August 2000 but by only 13% against the euro. Under the managed floating regime adopted in 1999, the exchange rate is the main instrument used to curb inflation, provided this does not threaten external equilibrium. Owing to the recovery in the external situation, the improvement in productivity and more favourable wage developments, the real exchange rate gained almost 17% against the euro between 1999 and 2001. It rose by 2.4% against the dollar/euro basket in 2002. This monetary policy stance has contributed to both gradual disinflation and a real exchange rate development compatible with a sustainable current account position. The process of re-monetising the economy continued in 2004, reflecting rising confidence in the banking sector and in the Romanian economy in general. Broad money stood at 24.4% of GDP at the end of 2003 and continued to grow in 2004. The tighter monetary policy has led to a spectacular increase in deposit rates, leu deposits and credit to companies and households. In response, the central bank raised its reference interest rate on several occasions and implemented prudential measures as of 1 February 2004 aimed at slowing credit growth. Minimum reserve ratios for foreign currency deposits were also raised.
In November 2004, the central bank made the exchange rate more flexible, as a result of which the currency appreciated by about 12% with respect to the euro. This limited inflationary pressures to some extent.
The current-account balance for 1997 showed a larger-than-forecast deficit. The rapid growth in the deficit in the first few months of 1998 gave rise to major concern. In the first half of 1999 it narrowed remarkably, by around one third compared with the same period in 1998. It fell from over 5.5% of GDP in 2000 to 3.7%, deteriorating again to 5.9% of GDP in 2001. The 2003 report noted that the current-account deficit narrowed sharply in 2002 but unfortunately began to deteriorate once again in the second half of 2003 to reach the equivalent of 2.9% of estimated GDP. Having reached an estimated 5.8% at the end of 2003, it remained high during the first half of 2004. Over the reporting period as a whole the current-account deficit has fluctuated around an average of 5.2% of GDP. However, the 2004 report noted that financing the external deficit had become easier as a result of improving borrowing conditions and a steady inflow of foreign direct investment (2.9% of GDP over the period in question). The international reserves of the central bank began to swell in 2004 and amounted to 9.7 billion by the end of July. And lastly, the total foreign debt-to-GDP ratio remains low at around 34% of GDP and the risk premium on Romanian sovereign debt has diminished significantly. Exports rose by 14.1% in 2004 but fell to 5.9% in the first half of 2005.
In 1997 major structural reforms were carried out: the customs tariff was lowered significantly, most prices were liberalised, the exchange market was opened up and the pace of privatisation was stepped up. Towards the end of 1998 the authorities relaunched the structural reforms and large-scale privatisations in order to forestall a mounting crisis and to restore access to official financing. Although progress was made, particularly in restructuring the financial and agricultural sectors, it remained generally insufficient. The 2000 report noted that the private sector accounted for some 60% of GDP, while the figure for the informal economy was 30-40%. The Commission also established that the legal framework for a market economy was in place for the most part but that the institutions needed for it to operate effectively were either deficient or still non-existent.
In its 2002 report the Commission noted that the structure of the economy still reflected the incomplete nature of the transition process. In its view Romania had continued to make progress towards becoming a functioning market economy and the prospects for this had improved.
The 2003 report noted that privatisation had accelerated but that the timetable set by the authorities was still not being met, especially in the energy sector. The Commission took the view that Romania could be considered as a functioning market economy if the good progress made continued decisively.
The 2004 report noted that privatisation had accelerated considerably and the private sector had continued to grow, accounting for 69.1% of GDP in 2003. By mid-2003 the share of private capital represented 56.4% of total capital and private sector employment amounted to 76.3%. The number of companies in state ownership also fell; it was down to 1 187 in mid-2004.
The new tax code entered into force in January 2004 and a system to speed up VAT recovery was developed. In the banking sector there has been a gradual rise in total assets, reaching 32% of GDP at the end of 2003. In the non-banking financial sector equity markets remain small, with total capitalisation amounting to only 12.2% of GDP at the end of 2003. However, since mid-2003 there has been a sizeable increase in both turnover and capitalisation. According to the 2005 report, the Romanian government has continued to pursue structural reforms, but the Commission notes that the privatisation process has slowed down, that financial discipline is inadequate and that the workings of the judicial system still hamper commerce. Romania is making progress towards the Lisbon strategy targets, but progress in the different areas concerned is uneven. Romania still needs to step up its efforts to improve the operation of the product and labour markets if it is to move closer to the EU-25 average.
As regards the independence of the National Bank (NBR), the 1998 report noted that it had been relieved of its obligation to grant special loans to companies and agricultural enterprises and that its independence had been strengthened as a result. A new statute setting price stability as the main objective entered into force on 30 June 1998. Although the NBR is no longer authorised to finance the budget deficit, given the fact that financial markets have not developed sufficiently, it may issue 180-day loans on market terms in order to meet the temporary imbalances between Treasury revenue and payments.
The 1999 report noted that existing legislation still allowed the government to draw on the overdraft facility with the NBR. In the 2001 report the Commission noted that Romanian legislation already guaranteed a very high degree of independence for the NBR. In the 2002 report it commented that Romania still had to amend the legal provisions governing the operation of the deposit guarantee fund in the financial system and make progress in transposing the acquis relating to central bank independence. The 2003 report noted no legislative headway in this field. A new law amending the statute of the NBR was adopted in June 2004. Designed to strengthen the Bank's independence and maintain price stability, it also ends the public sector's privileged access to financial institutions and bars the NBR from purchasing government bonds on the primary market. It also makes provision for extending the scope of the assets that can be used to guarantee loans granted by the NBR and for removing the obligation to provide government securities. A second law, also adopted in June 2004 law, on the establishment and operation of the Bank Deposit Guarantee Fund repeals the provisions under which the Fund was able to borrow from the NBR to supplement or meet large claims on its resources.
In its 2005 report, the Commission notes that the NBR's statute is fully compatible with the acquis. However, there is a need to clarify Romanian law on public debt, which includes provisions authorising the government to contract loans to support the balance of payments and the state's hard currency reserves. The law requires clarification for reasons of possible incompatibility with the National Bank's exclusive powers in the holding and management of foreign currency reserves.
As regards the negotiations on EMU, Romania declared that it accepted the acquis spelt out in Title VII of the EC Treaty and that it would comply with it in full. It also stated that it would put in place the structures necessary for implementing and complying with it. Romania will take part in EMU on its accession since it enjoys the status of a Member State with a derogation, as provided for in Article 122 of the EC Treaty. The negotiations on this chapter were provisionally concluded in June 2002. No transitional provisions have been requested. Romania must make the necessary changes to its institutional and legal framework by no later than the date of its accession. Despite this the 2004 report generally took the view that Romania was complying with its commitments and that preparations for enlargement were on track. The 2005 report confirms that Romania is meeting its commitments and complying with the requirements arising from the accession negotiations in the EMU field. It will be able to apply the acquis from the moment of accession, despite the amendments to legislation required.
Last updated: 22.12.2005


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Facebook is one of the top social networks that businesses and companies use to engage with their customers. So it is important to take full advantage of everything this social network has to offer, especially for your company and/or business.
The Pages Feed on Facebook is an all-branded feed where updates from Facebook Pages are housed. For individuals logged into Facebook, the Pages Feed appears on the left-hand navigation side.
Clicking it will bring up a feed of posts only from brands they have followed and liked. The number next to the Pages link indicates how many new updates are in that feed since the previous visit.
The Pages Feed allows its fans to see all updates your company posts, assuring they won't miss any posts. This feed provides more visual content and it helps your company or business track conversations and interactions with customers.
In a survey done last July by an English consumer deals website, 53 percent of respondents said Facebook had become too commercial and 34 percent said they "liked" a number of pages but hid them from their feed because they became too intrusive.
Giving Facebook users a place to see branded updates only when they want through the Pages Feed was a welcome solution.
WarmlyYours Radiant Heating has taken full advantage of the Pages Feed on our company Facebook account. Through our Pages Feed, we post information about our latest blogs, employee anniversaries, birthday shout outs, upcoming trade shows, photos from company events, product giveaways, contests, etc. WarmlyYours also uses the Pages Feed to interact and engage with our customers.
Overall the Pages Feed tends to get more views than regular company Facebook profiles because it is more prominent, and more importantly because it allows users the freedom to see all updates only when they choose.


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I have a pointer to an ofstream object, and I am trying to use it to write to a file using the << operator, but it wont work. Here is the code I am using:
But it doesnt work. The file has been created but it wont write anything to it. Is there sonething obvious I am doing wrong??Code:
// in header file
ofstream* logfile;
// in cpp file
logfile = new ofstream("logfile.txt")
*logfile << "logging enabled\n";