text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Monday, August 6, 2012, 8:16 AM
Town Square
New home construction at fastest pace in last 4 years
Original post made on May 9, 2013
Read the full story here Web Link posted Monday, August 6, 2012, 8:16 AM
Comments (3)
a resident of another community
on May 9, 2013 at 8:49 pm
Thank you Reps. Boehner and Cantor! Without all the Republican sponsored bills coming out of the House, we'd be in an even huger mess than we are, all caused by the Obama administrations attempt to makes us all unemployed and dependent on big government, plus the almost Nazi like gun policy that attempts to take guns and ammunition out of the hands of patriotic citizens, which our Founding Fathers had no so intention of doing, but Democrats can always depend on their 47% and growing to support policies that put people out of work and out of homes. Therefore its obvious that the new construction starts are created by Republicans, the Doers, while the Democrats simply try to line the pockets of people in the big cities and get them to lie about Benghazi simply as a reelection bid, not as an effort to grow the economy.
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on May 9, 2013 at 11:18 pm
The multi-story buildings are coming to Pleasanton too, thanks to the newly elected group of 3 YES votes to ridges and development. All backed by our Chamber of Commerce.
a resident of Livermore
on May 13, 2013 at 10:14 am
Lets all keep our fingers crossed that 700,000 low-income apts. will be built asap! I mean it!
Salami, Salami … Baloney
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Dublin recall unlikely to make June ballot
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Holiday Fund raises $70,000 for 12 Tri-Valley nonprofits
By Jeb Bing | 0 comments | 149 views


text:
When it came to mining songs of the past, 2013 took – as Breaking Bad's Mike Ehrmantraut might have said – no half-measures.
The following songs came firing back into our lives through some strange pathways: a fictional chemist, an overzealous Celtics fan, blurry courtroom controversies and a Toyota commercial.
If this list proves anything, it's that you never know when a song is due for its cultural comeuppance and summoned forward in time. Clearly, we had no idea what these songs were capable of the first time around so as we look ahead to 2014, we'll tread lightly.
1. "Baby Blue" – Badfinger
Released: March 6, 1972 Ten million people watched the finale episode of Breaking Bad, and presumably, the next thing many of those viewers did was turn to Spotify. "Baby Blue," the tender '70s ballad by Badfinger, neatly summed up the series with the hazy line: "Guess I got what I deserved/My baby blue." (Protagonist Walt, of course, is most famous for the blue-colored meth he produces.) According to the music streaming service, global streams of the song went up 9,000 percent in less than 12 hours after the final scene.
According to Billboard, "Blue" never sold more than 1,000 downloads in a single week. The night of the finale, "Blue" was downloaded 5,000 times in a single night. One week later, the song's sales increased nearly 3,000 percent and "Blue" re-entered the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart at No. 14. The success catapulted the U.K. rock band back into the cultural lexicon, 40 years after they fell apart.
Badfinger began with plenty of promise. They were the first band the Beatles signed to Apple Records. Paul McCartney wrote their first hit. But even those favorable circumstances couldn't save the band from financial turmoil and the subsequent suicides of its singer and guitarist. Thanks to Breaking Bad, Badfinger – and its last Twitter-savvy band member – are finally getting what they deserve.
2. "Got To Give It Up" – Marvin Gaye
Released: March 15, 1977
The self-defining question of 2013: Did "Blurred Lines" rip off Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up"?
"Blurred Lines" will forever be the feather in Robin Thicke's fedora. It was the best-selling song of 2013 and the longest-running No. 1 single of the decade, identifiable by its goofy "hey, hey, hey's" to its preening models in various states of undress.
After the song exploded over the summer, Thicke, producer Pharrell Williams and T.I. filed a preemptive lawsuit against Marvin Gaye's family requesting a ruling that "Blurred Lines" does not infringe upon Gaye's "Got To Give It Up," which — the public retroactively learned — happens to be one of Thicke's favorite songs.
While the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles sided with the "Blurred Lines" gentlemen, there are plenty of purists indignant over how Gaye's joyous vibes were flagrantly copped. Be that as it may, "Blurred Lines" revived Gaye's funky classics to new ears and new hips in 2013. Sometimes the end justifies the means – or in other words – sometimes you got to give it up.
3. "Livin' On A Prayer" – Bon Jovi
Released: October 31, 1986 The lesson here may be that "Livin' On A Prayer" will just never go away. Tommy? Gina? Forever holding on to what they've got: in our cars, our computers and later, in our microchip brain inserts.
Back in November, Bon Jovi's jock jam of 1987 reentered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 25, thanks to a video of basketball fan Jeremy Fry rocking out to "Prayer" in the aisle of a Boston Celtics game. The video was originally posted in 2009, but it went viral again.
According to Billboard, the twice-viral video received 11 million worldwide views and was shared on Facebook more than 1.6 million times, thereby spurring a global streaming frenzy of "Livin' On A Prayer." In a single week, Nielsen SoundScan estimates the rock anthem was played 5.1 million times in the United States, making that week both the happiest and least productive week of the entire year.
Read about two more songs that gained new life in 2013 at Radio.com.
— Sarah Grant for Radio.com

subset: commoncrawl


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"In this fight I have the most intolerant and vindictive enemies I have ever met and I have the largest majority on my side I have ever had and I am discussing the greatest issue I have ever discussed."
Related quotes
"This is far more than an indictment of an individual, ... It is an indictment of their vindictive efforts to discredit anyone who challenge their misrepresentations."
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind."
"petty, vindictive and not very well-informed autocratic leader who is enamored of his own sense of grandeur."
"[On Monday, Specter said it was] vindictive and inappropriate ... not a supporter of Terrell Owens."
"I am deeply disturbed by this vindictive and unfair prosecution. The investigation should never have begun."


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text:
Ever since the latest upgrade in versions I have to make sure and check the "internet security" setting when I start my computer and turn on the security, even though in the task bar it shows that my computer is protected.
I did the live chat and went through the clean uninstall and reinstall, which solved the problem for about 3 or 4 days.
I don't know what else to try.
I loved this product for a long time and even purchased and installed it at my workplace; but now I'm not sure it's worth the money when I can't get a seemingly simple thing handled.
It would be nice to have a way to contact tech support without having to do the live chat thing, where they tell you to do the clean unistall and reinstall and then log back in to chat with someone else.


text:
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For more information, contact Teddy Adler Finney at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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The End of William Higgins Newsletter


text: On Tue, 20 Nov 2007, Peter St. John wrote: > they said they didn't know why. It turns out that the automaton > produces C which is morphed to look like Fortran, so for example this: > > 100 WRITE (6, 200, X) > 200 FORMAT(...) > > turns into > > fortranlikeWRITE(output_device_6, "LineNumber200", X) > LineNumber200: fortranlikeFORMAT(...) > > instead of > > fprintf(stdout, "%d", X); > > so d'uh, no wonder that their clients maintain this code in fortran, > and not in C. So there are some fortran progammers with jobs around > here, good :-) The evils of f2c. Been there, used that, decided that it was FAR BETTER to just start over, read the goddamn fortran sources, and convert them in to nice fresh C. My original port of diehard went just like this, as the "C source" was of this especially pernicious sort, and the I/O was, well, fortran file based I/O -- does it get any uglier? > I don't draw any conclusions about the futures of any languages: > really I think it won't matter much as compilers get smarter and we'll > express ourselves any way we like. Also, sorry for the fudgy fortran, > I'm very rusty. Resisting... temptation... to... continue... rant... Compilers? Smart? It would take compilers that read your mind to replace a single human capable of expressing PRECISELY what the computer is supposed to do, telling the computer to do precisely the right thing. Remember, "smartness" is a process of Bayesian reasoning, which in turn is based on a map of joint, multivariate probabilities. PLC used to do its damnedest to compile any old thing you threw at it by guessing what you meant. People used to have (expensive) fun throwing decks of cards picked up at random off of the floor and feeding them to it. They'd compile. God knows to what, but they'd compile. I want a stupid language that lets me be the smart one in the computer-programmer relationship. I want the computer to do exactly the one thing that my language statements unambiguously tell it to do. If those are the wrong thing, well, I want it do to the wrong thing perfectly and bomb with the greatest possible grace. Then I can fix my code and have it be the right thing perfectly. How do you tell your boss "The compiler misunderstood me..."? rgb > > Peter > > > > ... >> I have a staff of 5. Of these 3 are conversant in Fortran. Our ages are >> 52, 43, and 40. We deal with fortran on a daily basis to support our HPC >> users in Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical >> Engineering, and occasionally even statistics. Supporting these users >> represents over $20 Million of direct funding to the University. >> >> >> I remember a time in the mid 1980's when I questioned the value of >> Fortran. But it's still here, it's still used, and we still need people >> who understand it to answer the next generation of questions in the >> basic sciences. >> >> >> Mike Davis >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org >> To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf >> > _______________________________________________ > Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org > To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf > -- Robert G. Brown Duke University Dept. of Physics, Box 90305 Durham, N.C. 27708-0305 Phone(cell): 1-919-280-8443 Web: http://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb Lulu Bookstore: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=877977


text:
Rays hunker down to deal at Deadline
Talks of acquiring Bay from Bucs swirl, but Price is off-limits
By Bill Chastain / MLB.com
The Rays manager said he spoke to Andrew Friedman, the Rays' executive vice president of baseball operations, Wednesday morning.
"There are actually some things on the table," Maddon said. "Very interesting stuff, actually. I mean really interesting. ... I just talked to him this morning and he ran some scenarios by me that I felt were really interesting. And we'll see."
In the past, Friedman has made deals nobody saw coming. Last year, Friedman sent third baseman Ty Wigginton to the Astros for reliever Dan Wheeler. Maddon was asked if the scenarios discussed by Friedman on Wednesday morning were deals that have been speculated upon in the rumor mill.
"This one's been under the umbrella of speculation," Maddon said. "I think I read it somewhere."
And the Rays could make more than one deal.
"It could be multiple [deals]," Maddon said. "Believe me, [Friedman is] working very hard. He gets hunkered down and it's 'forget about it.'"
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Wednesday that the Rays and Pirates are working on a deal that would send right-handed-hitting outfielder Jason Bay to the Rays for multiple prospects -- but not top prospect David Price.
The Rays have scored just 51 runs in their last 19 games, and the addition of a right-handed bat in the middle of their lineup is what most feel would help create more runs. Bay is under contract for 2009 at $7.5 million.
Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, July 24, 2013, 4:42 PM
Town Square
U.S. Rep. Eshoo votes to defund NSA phone program
Original post made on Jul 24, 2013
Read the full story here Web Link posted Wednesday, July 24, 2013, 4:42 PM
a resident of Los Altos Hills
on Jul 24, 2013 at 9:00 pm
Eshoo is always on the politically correct side. Perhaps she should consider what is correct once in a while.
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 24, 2013 at 9:18 pm
Last year more people were killed by toddlers with guns than terrorists.
Web Link
See, in this country civil liberties are paramount. We send our kids to die in wars for them, albeit on ostensibly lately.
a resident of another community
on Jul 25, 2013 at 7:33 am
Thank you, Rep. Eshoo
a resident of Downtown North
on Jul 25, 2013 at 9:04 am
"Give me liberty, or give me death." - Patrick Henry
"Take my liberty, just save my butt." - Lots of Americans
a resident of College Terrace
on Jul 25, 2013 at 10:20 am
never liked her much myself
a resident of Crescent Park
on Jul 25, 2013 at 10:54 am
Defunding anything in the NSA is an interesting proposition, which I doubt means anything, and I doubt would get done if it did mean anything, and if something somehow just happened to get done it would not be what a reasonable person would have expected and probably would end up even more intrusive. Way to go Anna. ;-)
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 25, 2013 at 11:47 am
More toddlers killed Americans than terrorists?
Wow. Makes this seem pretty stupid: "Take my liberty, just save my butt."
Save your butt from armed toddlers? Sounds more like a reading of the whole, not parsed, 2nd amendment is more important than cameras and massive government surveillance, is in order.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 25, 2013 at 12:34 pm
Isn't there a system whereby a representative votes against a bill that they know will fail to pass, in order to be popular and look good? (or the reverse)
This measure failed to pass - surprise, surprise
I don't know where Congresswoman Eshoo stands on this and what motivated her voting, so I am not necessarily alleging that in this case, but one wonders
Isn't this what Obama did, in another way, by voting "present" when he was in the Illinois state legislature - how convenient.
How about if our representatives at all levels of government represent we the people better by protecting our rights - that's something I would appreciate.
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jul 25, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Sorry, I didn't write that very well. What I was pondering was whether some members of Congress might vote FOR this measure to limit NSA data collecting methods ALL THE WHILE knowing the bill would fail to pass, as government rarely turns on itself and limits itself in any fashion, thereby (the members of Congress who used this system)are able to enjoy popularity with us voters/the people all the while NOT DOING ANYTHING MEANINGFUL to protect our rights! - How convenient.
Well, I (half-heartedly)tried, they can say.
a resident of Downtown North
on Jul 25, 2013 at 1:04 pm
"How convenient."
So those that vote for intrusive government surveillance and hacking of phones are bad.
And according to you, those that have long spoken out against it, and vote against it, are just as bad? That's a rather interesting collection of synapses you have there. (Also nice the way you mysteriously inserted the Obama vote from years ago, even though their is zero relevance.)
Do the wrong thing - bad. Speak out against wrong, and do the right thing? Also bad(!). Glad you weren't my parent.
a resident of South of Midtown
on Jul 25, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Will Anna Eshoo vote to ban toddlers? Will local city councils vote to ban parents, as well as those plastic bags that did such harm?
In a country the size of the USA, these statistics are not even a drop in the bucket. But I'm just wondering.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Jul 25, 2013 at 2:07 pm
> Will Anna Eshoo vote to ban toddlers?
Why waste your time and ours?
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 25, 2013 at 7:03 pm
"... the House very narrowly defeated the amendment by Reps. Justin Amash (R-MI) and John Conyers to scale back the NSA's surveillance power to the letter of the Patriot Act law. The final vote was 205-217. The amendment was shepherded to the floor by leadership, reportedly, because of a groundswell of Republican lawmakers who demanded the vote. Ninety-four Republicans supported the amendment, along with 111 Democrats."
Obviously @neighbor and his/her 'convenience' is wrong.
This has tractioo0n, and Rep Eshoo is again on the correct side.


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This is ball movement folks...
This is ball movement folks...
No Melo - No Stat = Fuggedaboudit
Copesanity returns.
in dedication to JR.
Whats our record when Copeland plays?
Great win.
That's the Knicks from begin of the season.
Playin D, ball movement, chemistry, smile at faces.
Keep it guys, go Knicks!
Prigioni and Martin needs their roles increased, possibly starter position.
Prigioni (defense, Smith gets better looks and doesnt have to create his own shot all time, Prigioni runs the pick and roll better than Felton)
Smith (Best scorer by delfault)
Shumpert (Best perimeter defender by default)
Martin (Best defender overall on this team right now)
Chandler (Our best player right now)
Felton/Kidd off the bench as back up guards to limit Smith and Prigioni being overplayed
When Melo returns, move Shumpert to SG and bring Smith off the bench, limiting Felton's/Copeland's minutes.
Novak/Copeland/Thomas/Camby as the back up frontcourt to limit Martin/Chandler to 30 minutes.
I miss the game last night, but will watch it on MSG channel at 10:30 this mourning.
I did check the stats for minutes played .. and this is the first time in a very long time that coach Woody gave out the right minutes that fit our players talents and skills .....
JR's minimal skills supose to average under 30 minutes, 28 minutes should be his tops.
Felton supose to be averaging 24 minutes b/c we have 3 PG.
Tyson is a 4 to 5 foul center that any minutes over 26 minutes is soft Tyson Chandler.
Novak is a 27 minute peremeter shooter that should be averaging 10 shot attempts per game.
Shump defensive energy in the backcourt is still rookie-raw, making Shump a 24 minute player receiving 16 to 18 minutes in the 2nd half of every game. And hell-no Shump is not a starter! yet. Emergency start only.
Our bench depth should be lead by HOF coach/player Jason Kidd & Camby receiving 24 minutes each per game.
Prigioni & Copeland tandem earned 18 minutes per game in their consistent performance in our preseason games to be groomed throughout the regular season.
Why coach Woody did not coach our players to their best skills/talents/strength by minutes played this season?
Because coach Woody stayed focus on "TRYING" to get a gellin-chemistry out of one lineup -- Tyson/Melo/JR/Felton, which we seen the 4 players received 40 minutes of playingtime showing poor defensive-effort in to many games.
I dont know what the hell is going on with this Knicks team, where the headcoach never comments on the great-effort from the team-roster, but is forever making his first priority toward hyping or defending our two-EGO high-scorer who consistently show NO-DEFENSIVE-EFFORT .. Melo & Stat.
There's one thing we can count on with a missing Melo & Stat .. coach Woody is not going to allow any more benchplayers to pull a winning-streak Linsanity move to take focus off of Melo being the so-call Leader-Star of the Knicks...
Last edited by Kiyaman; Mar 10, 2013 at 11:19.
I see no-one has mention how well the Knicks rotation looked in the first-half of the last 3 games without Carmelo Anthony in the lineup running the steady boring ISO-Melo offensive-play.
White & Kurt looked great on offense/defense the first 7 minutes as starters.
Novak 4-5 FG, 3-4 from 3-ball in the first-half for 11 points .. looks like the Linsanity era Novak without Melo in Novak's shooting spots.
K-Mart brang a boost of energy off the bench on offense/defense backing-up Kurt.
With no Stat playing, coah Woody finally plays Camby as Tyson's backup.
Why didnt Woody do that when Stat was playing??? check Hint
Halftime .... Knicks 55 Utah-38
The first 6 minutes of the 2nd half the Knicks built their lead up to 20 points from all 5 players playing a great TEAM-DEFENSE, before putting JR.smith into the game. The next 6 minutes with JR in the third-quarter the Knicks held onto a 19 point lead to start the 4th quarter.
Having 7 minutes remaining in the game holding onto the 19 point lead Woody puts Copeland into the game after a month of DNP. With 6 minutes left Woody take JR out of the game, annnd Copeland shows his raw talent of flaws from being in the doghouse plus adding 12 points, a block, a steal, and some fouls in 7 minutes.
That's how the Knicks should always play.
Boggles my mind that Woodson can give J.R. so many chances (which would be ok if he took him out when he needed to), yet gives rookies Copeland and Prigioni a way harder time, maybe only because they're rookies. Hopefully this non-sense has stopped, we need these guys.
Sig made by Sons of Thunder
Watch the game again to see the "stat" of Melo in the line-up vs. STAT in the lineup. This team can get by withou STAT, not MELO
This is FFFed-up .. the players stepped-up their level of performance to 110% on both ends of the court playing with a confidence we havnt seen in the past 4 months, holding onto a 20 point lead for 3 quarters WITHOUT Melo & Stat in the lineup.
Now I understand why we only have 38 wins compared to the Denver Nuggets 42 wins .. Ball-movement vs Iso-Melo .. u pick???


text:
To help prevent reinjuring your back at work -- or hurting it in the first place -- follow these tips, learn how to lift the right way, and make changes at work, if needed.
Exercise helps to prevent future back pain.
If you are overweight, ask your health care provider about ways you can lose some of your extra pounds. Carrying around extra weight adds stress to your back no matter what kind of work you do.
Long car rides and getting in and out of the car can be very hard on your back. If you have a long commute to work, consider some of these changes.
Know how much you can safely lift. Think about how much you have lifted in the past and how easy or hard that was. If an object seems too heavy or awkward, get help to move or lift it.
If your work requires you to do lifting that may not be safe for your back, talk with your boss. Try to find out the most weight you should have to lift. You may need to meet with a physical therapist or occupational therapist to learn how to safely lift this amount of weight.
Follow these steps when you bend and lift to help prevent back pain and injury:
Some health care providers recommend the use of a back brace to help support the spine. A brace may help prevent injuries for workers who have to lift heavy objects. However, using a brace too much can weaken the core muscles that support your back, making back pain problems worse.
If your back pain is worse at work, talk with your boss. It may be that your work station is not set up correctly.
If your work involves physical activity, review the needed motions and activities with your physical therapist. Your therapist may be able to suggest helpful changes. Also, ask about exercises or stretches for the muscles you use most during work.
Avoid standing for long periods of time. If you must stand at work, try resting one foot on a stool, then the other foot. Keep switching off during the day.
Take medicines as needed. Talk with your boss or supervisor if you need to take medicines that make you sleepy, such as narcotic pain relievers and muscle relaxant medicines.
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text:
Black Belt Magazine's Best Martial Arts Videos of 2011Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Black Belt magazine turned 50 this year. What became the world's leading martial arts magazine started in 1961 as a small black-and-white publication with a stapled spine. Today, Black Belt is a full-color magazine, an ever-expanding book library and an instructional-DVD archive — and a website featuring hundreds of articles from the magazine's 50-year treasure
Continue Reading »
Posted in Martial Arts Multimedia.


text:
Blue MoonRichard Rodgers/Arr. Nelson Riddle - Jazz Lines Publications
This swinging Nelson Riddle chart comes from Frank Sinatra's "Swingin' Session and More" record. In typical Riddle fashion, the arrangement begins with a memorable introduction and the the vocalist enters along with great rhythmic figures in the sax section and a familiar baritone sax line. Then the brass enter for the second A section and the chart really gets going. There is a tenor sax solo over the first two A sections that has been written out in full. The chord changes are also included. There are no saxophone doubles; however, the brass ranges need to be mentioned: trumpet 1 to high E and trombone 1 gets into the extended range and goes to high D-flat on five occasions. Vocal key: D-flat. � �
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KENTUCKY ATHEISTS NEWS & NOTES Date: November 28, 2008
Kentucky Atheists, P.O. Box 666, Union, KY 41091; Email: email@example.com
Phone: (859) 384-7000; Fax: (859) 384-7324; Web: http://www.atheists.org/ky/
Editor's personal web site: www.edwinkagin.com
Editor's personal blog: http://edwinkagin.blogspot.com
Edited by:
Edwin Kagin, Kentucky State Director, American Atheists, Inc.
(AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)
What Is An ATHEIST?
"ANOTHER THINKING HUMAN ENGAGED IN SEEKING TRUTH" (Edwin Kagin, 2008)
To Unidentified Recipients:
American Atheists now has official pages on MySpace and Facebook.
If you are a member of Facebook or MySpace we would be honored if you sent us a Friend Request!
MySpace: http://myspace.com/americanatheists
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51502800791
Please note, heed, and react to the following outrageous situation in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Anyone who is a resident of Kentucky and might be interested in being a plaintiff in a major legal challenge to this attempt to establish religion in Kentucky is invited to contact me.
You are also encouraged to write letters to members of the Kentucky Legislature, the Governor of Kentucky, and to Kentucky newspapers.
See: http://www.lrc.ky.gov
For other resources, see: www.edwinkagin.com
Edwin Kagin
National Legal Director
American Atheists, Inc.
P.O. Box 666
Union, KY 41091
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: (859) 384-7000
Fax: (859) 384-7324
Posted on Fri, Nov. 28, 2008
Kentucky law requires Homeland Security credit God
The Associated Press
Kentucky's Homeland Security office must publicize God's benevolent protection of the state in its reports under the 2006 law that organized the department.
Under the law, Homeland Security's religious duties come before anything else the department does, including distribution of millions of dollars in federal grants and analyzing possible threats.
The law lists the office's initial duty as "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth."
State Rep. Tom Riner of Louisville, who pushed for the religious requirement, told The Lexington Herald-Leader it was appropriate because government alone cannot protect the state.
State Sen. Kathy Stein of Lexington said the religious requirement takes away from the department's mission.
Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com
© 2008 Kentucky.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
Posted on Fri, Nov. 28, 2008
Anti-terror law requires God be acknowledged
By John Cheves
Under state law, God is Kentucky's first line of defense against terrorism.
The 2006 law organizing the state Office of Homeland Security lists its initial duty as "stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth."
Specifically, Homeland Security is ordered to publicize God's benevolent protection in its reports, and it must post a plaque at the entrance to the state Emergency Operations Center with an 88-word statement that begins, "The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God."
State Rep. Tom Riner, a Southern Baptist minister, tucked the God provision into Homeland Security legislation as a floor amendment that lawmakers overwhelmingly approved two years ago.
As amended, Homeland Security's religious duties now come before all else, including its distribution of millions of dollars in federal grants and its analysis of possible threats.
The time and energy spent crediting God are appropriate, said Riner, D-Louisville, in an interview this week.
"This is recognition that government alone cannot guarantee the perfect safety of the people of Kentucky," Riner said. "Government itself, apart from God, cannot close the security gap. The job is too big for government."
Nonetheless, it is government that operates the Office of Homeland Security in Frankfort, with a budget this year of about $28 million, mostly federal funds. And some administrations are more religious than others.
Under previous Gov. Ernie Fletcher, a lay Baptist preacher, Homeland Security interpreted the law at face value, prominently crediting God in its annual reports to state leaders and posting the required plaque.
Under Gov. Steve Beshear, officials this week said they didn't know about the plaque until the Herald-Leader called to ask whether it's still there. (They checked; it is.) The 2008 Homeland Security report, issued a month ago, did not credit God, but it did complain about a decline in federal funding from Washington.
Thomas Preston, Beshear's Homeland Security chief, said he isn't interested in stepping into a religious debate, and he hasn't given this part of his duties much thought.
"I will not try to supplant almighty God," Preston said. "All I do is try to obey the dictates of the Kentucky General Assembly. I really don't know what their motivation was for this. They obviously felt strongly about it."
There is no reference to God in Homeland Security's current mission statement or on its Web site, which displeases Riner.
"We certainly expect it to be there, of course," Riner said.
But state Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, said Homeland Security should worry about public safety threats instead of preaching religious homilies.
"It's very sad to me that we do this sort of thing," said Stein, a frequent critic of efforts to mix religion and government. "It takes away from the seriousness of the public discussion over security, and it clearly hurts the credibility of this office if it's supposed to be depending on God, first and foremost."
© 2008 Kentucky.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kentucky.com
Here is the relevant Kentucky Law:
39G.010 Kentucky Office of Homeland Security executive director — Duties — Delegation of duties — Notification of disaster or emergency.
(1) The Kentucky Office of Homeland Security shall be attached to the Office of the Governor and shall be headed by an executive director appointed
by the Governor.
(2) The executive director shall:
(a) Publicize the findings of the General Assembly stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth by
including the provisions of KRS 39A.285(3) in its agency training and educational materials. The executive director shall also be responsible for
prominently displaying a permanent plaque at the entrance to the state's Emergency Operations Center stating the text of KRS 39A.285(3). . . . .
And KRS 39A.285 (3) says:
39A.285 Legislative findings.
The General Assembly hereby finds that:
(1) No government by itself can guarantee perfect security from acts of war or terrorism.
(2) The security and well-being of the public depend not just on government, but rest in large measure upon individual citizens of the Commonwealth and their level of understanding, preparation, and vigilance.
(3) The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God as set forth in the public speeches and proclamations of American Presidents, including Abraham Lincoln's historic
March 30, 1863, Presidential Proclamation urging Americans to pray and fast during one of the most dangerous hours in American history, and the text of President John F. Kennedy's November 22, 1963, national security
speech which concluded: "For as was written long ago: 'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.' "
Effective: March 28, 2002
History: Created 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 82, sec. 2, effective March 28, 2002.
Go Prez!
American Atheist President Ed Buckner exchanges electrons with a writer who, in the battle of wits, goes largely unarmed.
Just how should one answer a person who calls them a "weasel worder?"
I do not think C.S. Lewis would have cared much for this Paul person.
This hostile control freak is welcome to design his own symbols and start his own organization.
What is truly frightening is that these people are permitted to vote and to sit on juries.
Try to get all of the sane people you know to join American Atheists while they still can.
For your own safety's sake.
Well, Paul, you're making me see red–see below for an example or two. But you're not making enough sense to be worth continuing to "exchange" thoughts with. (Fiercely asserted assertions don't count for much.) I've read Mere Christianity and found it singularly unpersuasive. Please let us not waste each other's time any further–please don't reply until and unless you can keep a civil tongue in your head, as my mother–a big fan of Mere Christianity, for what that's worth–used to say.
Ed B.
On Nov 26, 2008, at 6:06 PM, Paul Trombley wrote:
Let's try this again, Ed: You think that materialism is true and that atheism is entailed by it. Right? Ok, so, if you were disabused of your materialism or were shown that (gasp) it's false, then you'd start believing in a god. That's the structure and the content of your thought, isn't it?
Now, if you abandoned your materialism right now, what then would you have? Well, before you came around to theism you'd have an amoral, rudderless belief in nothing, and probably an aversion to any suggestion that there is an objective right and wrong. Isn't that right? And since you aren't trained in philosophy you'd be groping in the dark throughout the experience and flip-flopping around from one vague idea to the next.
Ever heard of C.S. Lewis, author of Mere Christianity? He indicates that before his conversion to Christianity he was an atheist like your selves, thinking: either (1) there is a creator god or a ruler god or (2) materialism is true, and, furthermore, since materialism (in your view) is true, all religions are wrong all through. But you haven't let Jesus into your heart yet, so all you really have (apart from the unsubstantiated exclusive disjunction) is epistemic nihilism. That, nihilism, is the real agenda and goal of AA. So the comment "not all the answers are in" is misleading, for you think that no matter what the subject, the answers aren't and won't ever be in. The trouble with Lewis is that even after his conversion, he was still slippery, as reading the preface and just a few pages of that book reveals. You'll be the same way if you convert.
So, do you believe that there is an objective right and wrong (whether grounded on absolutist, consequentialist, or other grounds)? Do you believe in anything…anything at all..other than repeating insipid rhetoric about free inquiry? Or are you just a weasel worder who refuses to take a stand on anything but wishy-washy uncertainty? In fact, you have an embarrasing motive for your nihilism. That motive is just pride, Ed. You find it irksome to suppose that you have ever done something seriously wrong or have a character flaw, so you run what amounts to Nihilistic American Materialists. Pride is also what keeps you from changing the logo.
You wrote that your "symbol is…not intended…to be a depiction of how electrons work", but that comment, too, was mealy-mouthed claptrap. The "atomic whirl" is a depiction–an innaccurate, irresponsible one–of how electrons were once thought to work. Your self-absorbed, idiosyncratic thinking to the contrary doesn't change that fact, and you are simply instilling a false and misleading impression in the minds of people who don't know any better than to look to you for guidance. Now, if the "atomic whirl" is not meant to depict how electrons work, then why don't you change the logo to a tree or an automobile wheel and then claim that that isn't supposed to depict how electrons work? Scientists study trees, and engineers make use of scientific discoveries. So you'd still get to claim that it's meant to suggest or evoke ideas and commentary. Even better, pines and spruces have the shape of an 'A', and you could just put a subscript below it to indicate nationality. Or you could make the logo a montage of a microscope, the fundamental theorem of calculus, and a book. Wouldn't that evoke commentary and suggest the spirit of inquiry? Well, yes. But you don't change the logo, and the reason is obvious: You want to evoke materialism and equate it with atheism (which itself doesn't entail materialism). This is how I know that your reply is deceitful nonsense.
Ed, the world does not need your amorality, your nihilism, your slippery rhetoric, or your misguided materialism. Please do the right thing: Shut down your operation.
By the way, my own position is irrelevant for the purpose of determining the position of AA, or rather, the postion of American Materialists, and the reason for my inquiry (1) is that you invited it by publishing an e-mail address, and (2) is evident from the questions which you didn't answer. Why can't you comprehend that?
From: prez buckner
To: Paul Trombley
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 9:51:38 PM
Subject: Re: a few questions: please reply
Paul Trombley,
Our philosophies vary somewhat, but most of us could reasonably be called materialists, in the sense a philosopher would use the term. We like the term "Atheist" just fine, however, and don't our think our name mis-describes us at all. We find no evidence or logic that supports any beliefs in any gods, including those alluded to in the Christian Bible. If you want more than that, I suggest you spend a few days browsing our website and reading any of the many fine books from Atheist Press (you might start with Atheism Advanced by David Eller–which I'm now reading and enjoying). If you have any serious follow-up questions, please include a synopsis of your own position and your reason(s) for your inquiries.
Our symbol is a symbol–not intended, of course, to be a depiction of how electrons work, but rather intended to evoke or suggest ideas and commentary:
An international symbol for Atheism has long been needed. When American Atheists was formed in 1963, a contemporary scientific symbol was chosen; this acknowledges that only through the use of scientific analysis and free, open inquiry can humankind reach out for a better life.
Recognizing the new atomic era, but also emphasizing the truths of older scientific findings, the atomic whirl was chosen. The atom is still a distinguishing unit of all matter, the smallest particle of an element that can exist and still retain the properties of that element.
You may notice that one of the orbital in our symbol is broken, or open-ended. This demonstrates that while Atheists rely on the scientific method for learning about the cosmos and increasing our knowledge about nature, we know that "not all of the answers are in." We recognize that with new knowledge come new questions and areas for human inquiry and exploration.
That open orbital forms an "A" to represent Atheism. The small letter in the center represents of the first letter of the country in which an affiliated group is located. In our case, the "A" signifies American, and the symbol thus represents American Atheists.
Be well,
Ed B.
Ed Buckner
American Atheists
On Nov 20, 2008, at 8:33 PM, Paul Trombley wrote:
> Hello, AA.
> Please clarify your conception of atheism.
> (1) Does the management of American Atheists believe more or less as follows?
> (P1) If materialism is true, then there is no god such as that of Genesis 1:1.
> (P2) Materialism is true.
> (C) Therefore, there is no god such as that of Genesis 1:1.
> Furthermore, does the management of AA believe that if given P1 above, then if materialism were not true, then it would not be true that there is no god such as that of Genesis 1:1?
> (2) Does AA believe that either materialism or theism (as of Gen. 1:1) must be true? and that there are no other options available to the ontologist?
> (3) Are the management and staff of American Atheists basically materialists (in the philosopher's sense of the term) and atheists second such that a more accurate name for AA would be "American Materialists"?
> (4) Why does AA use as its logo a depiction of the planetary hypothesis of electron orbits? Is that how electrons really work or is it misleading? Wasn't that conception rejected during the lifetime of Rutherford? College-level physics and chemistry textbooks published as long as 20 years ago did not use such a depiction but rather the concept of a cloud. Does AA think that incorrect?
> Thanks,
> Paul
> —– Forwarded Message —-
> From: Paul Trombley
> To: email@example.com
> Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 11:49:10 AM
> Subject: refutation of Aquinas' five ways and other questions
> Dr. Buckner,
> Do you know of a succinct refutation of each of Aquinas' five ways (in Latin: quinque viae) of proving the existence of God? If so, please let me know. Wikipedia has a short introduction the five ways at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquae_viae.
> Also, why does AA use as its logo a depiction of the planetary hypothesis of electron orbits? Rutherford, as I recall, advocated it, but it was shown to be inadequate to explain atomic behavior. Of course, there is also the concept of orbitals (s, p, d, f,…) to describe the wave-like character of electron orbits.
> Finally, did O'Hair believe that atheism entails materialism, the doctrine that matter is the only reality or the foundation of reality, or something akin to either of these ideas?
> Thanks,
> Paul
And then we have this exchange, which should be helpful to many of our readers who doubtless encounter similar inquiries.
However, we still await Mr. Ed Buckner's proof, if any he has to offer or can offer, that there are not two invisible unicorns at Camp Quest.
On Nov 28, 2008, at 3:14 PM, Nathan Smith wrote:
> Dear Sir, or Mrs.
> It has come to my attention that nothing on your site has any proof
> to disproving the existence of God. How would you explain to someone
> who used the Ontological Argument against your theories? that's all
> you have are theories. That's all Evolution is, a theory. Descartes
> provided the existence of the external world very well, by saying
> that; 1. God exists, 2. as All-Perfect God is truthful, and cannot
> deceive, 3. we have a natural belief in the external world, 4.
> Therefore, since God cannot be a deceiver, our natural belief in the
> external world MUST be true. How do you respond to something like
> that? Descartes also said that we (humans) must make a wager. Heads,
> God exists. Tails, God does not exist. If you say why must you wager,
> you must; your life will reflect your choice. This is how it comes
> down, If God exists, Atheists=Infinite Loss, Theists=Infinite Gain. If
> God does not exist, Atheists GAIN NOTHING. Theists LOSE NOTHING. I
> thank you for your time. please reply if possible.
> Sincerely,
> Nathan Smith
Mr. Smith,
You need to work on both your logical thinking and on your knowledge of the history of philosophy. You cannot prove, no matter how hard you try, that the 5,000 cubic meters at the core of the planet Mars is not made of low grade uranium mixed 50/50 with popcorn salt–but that hardly counts as evidence that the proposition is true, does it?
And, while Descartes did draw some of the conclusions you cite (his conclusions have been refuted long since), it was actually Blaise Pascal who is famous for the bogus wager you propose (though he didn't originate it, either–see below). I'd suggest you do some reading–start with David Eller's excellent recent book from American Atheist Press, Atheism Advanced–and some critical thinking.
You can also consider a very short essay I wrote on the subject years ago–I've pasted it in below.
Read. Think.
Ed B.
Ed Buckner
American Atheists
"Why not believe in God, since the only way you lose is by not
The short-hand description for the claim behind this question is
"Pascal's Wager." Blaise Pascal, French philosopher and mathematician
of the 1600s, gets credit for this one, though it probably was asked in
various forms long before him. The essential claim is that we should
all believe in God, since not believing can cause us to go to Hell if
we're wrong, while believing is harmless if we happen to be wrong in
doing so.
There are many problems with this claim so there are many answers to
the question:
· It's not really a fifty/fifty choice at all. There are
thousands of religions/gods, and presumably you'd have to pick the
right one if there is a right one. So your odds are thousands to one
against you, no matter what the truth is.
· Belief is not really something you can simply choose to have
or not have. Any omniscient god worth his salt would know if you were
just pretending to believe, and surely that would void your contract,
as it were. Sincere belief can only be held by someone who has been
convinced (by evidence, emotion, or just by not questioning what one
was taught as a child).
· There is in fact a great deal to lose by believing in a
non-existent god: aside from time and money wasted in religious
activities, self-delusion can be quite destructive, potentially leading
to many mistakes, lack of self-reliance, and considerable unhappiness
in one's life. If we only have one life, we can make the best of it
only by recognizing that.
· And my favorite answer, initially implausible but in fact no
more illogical than Pascal's Wager: What if "God" in her almighty
wisdom only wants to have in her heaven (to keep her company and
entertain her) curious, skeptical, intelligent beings? People who are
wise enough to not accept her existence without good reasons or
evidence? Then, of course, all of us secular humanists and freethinkers
will be "in" while D. James Kennedy and Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson
will only make it if they are in fact charlatans who don't really
believe any of the baloney they peddle.
For more on the subject, see Section II, pp. 55-104, in An Anthology of
Atheism and Rationalism, edited by Gordon Stein and published by
Prometheus Books, 1980.


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Every once in a long while I catch a show on TV about Luigi Colani. He is a designer of a variety of things, cars being one of the more prominent ones. He is ridiculously talented at what he does, and is always thinking outside the box with his nature-related design. His automotive concepts are always WAY beyond anything that current manufacturers are ready for, but they are thought provoking nonetheless. Try doing a Google image search for his name sometime when you're bored and check out his work.
One of his lost vehicle concepts from 1970 popped up on eBay the other day. It's known as the "Lamborgini Miura Le Mans concept prototype car". It's based on a Lamborghini (surprise), and it's quite futuristic to say the least. It toured around Europe for several years when it was first built, then oddly enough it traveled 30+ years into the future to an estate auction in Indiana (clearly hitting a few bumps along the way). A totally awesome car no doubt; it's really too bad a car as cool as this has been hidden for so long. Hopefully it will be restored and driven or put on display so that it can be enjoyed by the masses again.
Quicky Sidenote: Be sure to look at the green picture below. It looks like he designed the car to comfortably seat two bears. lolzzz.
eBay Item # 270670824212


text:
Arsenal end trophy drought with FA Cup win
Arsenal ended its nine-year trophy drought on Saturday, coming from two goals...
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) – Shabazz Muhammad netted a game-high 27
points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime, as UCLA hung on for a
97-94 win over No. 7 Missouri on Friday at Pauley Pavilion.
Muhammad shot 10-of-19 from the floor and hit three 3-pointers, while Travis
Wear added 22 points and eight rebounds for the Bruins (10-3), who have won
five in a row. Jordan Adams contributed 12 points and five assists, while
David Wear donated 16 points and five boards off the bench in the triumph.
Phil Pressey scored a team-high 19 points and handed out a school-record 19
assists, while Laurence Bowers netted 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds
for Missouri (10-2), which had a six-game winning streak snapped.
Keion Bell dropped 17 points with six rebounds and Earnest Ross and Jabari
Brown donated 16 and 14 points, respectively, in the setback.


text:
Global Credit Union Offers Sequestration Help
The $360 million Global Credit Union in Spokane, Wash., has joined the list of credit unions with deep military connections offering help in the wake of sequestration.
The 48,000-member Global CU, founded in 1954 by members of Fairchild Air Force Base, is offering penalty-free certificate withdrawals, no-fee extension on existing loans and interest-free loans for up to six months.
"Our roots run deep with our military members. If they do experience furloughs, we want to give them time and assistance to adjust. We've always been here for our members and we are here now to help them through if they need us," said Global President/CEO Jack Fallis.
Global CU membership is available to all active and retired U.S. military and their families worldwide, and to anyone living or working in Washington state or Kootenai, Benewah, Shoshone or Latah counties in Idaho.


text:
Update I had about two minutes before I had to dash off and I wanted to flag up these two posts but I didn't have time to say anything.
I meant to say how proud I am to have Nirmukta among us.
Because of Anita's wonderful post Why Your Daughter's Marriage Shouldn't Be Your Biggest Dream For Her for instance,
Placing emphasis on marriage means raising girls in a manner primarily aimed at moulding them into a societal expectation of what an ideal bride or wife should be like, instead of fostering and encouraging individual characteristics. And in a patriarchal society, these demands are never free of misogyny. The perfect wife looks like Aishwarya Rai, talks like Mother Teresa and is willing to be submissive like Sita. She is unambitious, unassertive, unaware or not demanding of her rights, and has been blessed with extra invisible hands to successfully manage all household work and (increasingly) also a job without the slightest complaints. Girls then are taught from a young age to value their looks more than their talents and skills, to place their career aspirations or financial independence secondary to the need for being married at the 'right' time and having kids, and to perpetuate this vicious cycle through their own daughters, all the while carrying a burden of living up to the good girl myth so as to not 'invite' rape, lest they become used goods. Because rape is something that is given to us when we "ask for it", and the unit of measurement of a woman's worth is virginity. Right?
And because of Sunil on "Brahmins Only" Housing.
A visit to their website confirms that their objective is the preservation and perpetuation of Brahmanism:
To preserve, protect, propagate and strengthen intellectual identity, integrity and self- esteem of the noble culture of Sanathana Dharma, spanning its various sampradayas and traditions represented by Acharyas and Gurus.
When we posted the image on the Indian Atheists page it got the expected amount of anger, but there were also a handful of commenters who thought this ought to be allowed. This post attempts to tease out the moral arguments for and against. (I'm not neutral on the matter and will make my position clear too.)
He goes on to do that.
Nirmukta is great. I'm so pleased to have them as colleagues.


text:
- by guest blogger Andreas Göldi
(Göldi is the former CEO of Swiss Internet consultancy Namics, and is currently attending a study program at MIT. Disclosure: I sit on the Board of Namics). (German version of this post)
The World Wide Web, MP3, Skype (peer-to-peer VoIP), Linux. These four key innovations have one common characteristic: They were all invented in Europe, but were leveraged into profitable products and services primarily by American companies, typically by relatively young ones such as Microsoft, Google, eBay, Amazon and Yahoo. Which would seem to confirm the old stereotype that Europeans are often the best researchers, while clearly Americans are better entrepreneurs.
Why is it so? I've spent now some eight months in Boston at MIT, one of the centers of American tech-entrepreneurialism. Based on the insights I could gather here and on my previous experiences as a co-founder of an Internet company in Europe, I would like to offer a few reasons why things are different in America for people that want to start a company. And what Europeans could possibly learn.
1. Scale and language: The obvious one. The US are the largest homogeneous market in the world with a common language, a consistent law system, a developed infrastructure and a pretty even prosperity level. Neither fragmented Europe nor China and India with their enormous differences between rich cities and poor rural areas can really keep up. A startup in the US has 300 million potential customers right on its doorstep, and in the growth phase that's a huge advantage. Internationalization is expensive, and early-stage companies have particular difficulties with it.
However, a consequence is that American companies often have even more trouble in adapting to other markets. Even the most obvious things sometimes seem to be hard for them. I have frequently seen expanding American software startups that could hardly believe that there are actually different currencies in Europe; that postal zip codes don't always have five figures; that different national mentalities can play a relevant role in a sales talk. This represents an opportunity for European companies, because they are forced to think internationally and multiculturally from the outset.
2. Entrepreneurship is worthwhile for (nearly) everyone. Recently, Google invited seventh grade (13 year old) schoolgirls to the Googleplex to present their business plans – a great way to teach kids to think entrepreneurially. Here at MIT, students keep themselves busy nonstop with business plan competitions, venture capital conferences, start-up courses and more, and practically everyone constantly thinks about business ideas. In Europe, students typically prefer to go to corporate presentations by big banks or such.
The dream of upward social mobility drives Americans, and successful entrepreneurs are often admired role models. While Americans dream of having their own company, Europeans call for the State to intervene when things get tight.
This fundamental difference in mindset is of course difficult to overcome, but there is still hope for Europe. We should not forget that the admiration directed at entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs is a relatively new phenomenon even in the US. In the heydays of GM in the Fifties and Sixties, Americans looked at big corporations to provide jobs, rather than at their garage to house their tech startup. Slowly, a better social recognition of entrepreneurship is emerging in Europe too.
3. The "Good enough" mentality. Probably nobody would claim that Microsoft, Oracle or Dell build products of immaculate quality. A honest European engineer would often be ashamed for some of the products that American software and hardware manufacturers sell. Americans seem to have different priorities: The product doesn't need to be perfect, just good enough to attract the customer. Even in universities one can already sense this difference. Among computer scientists at MIT an elegant hack attracts more admiration than a diligently precise but boring piece of engineering work.
It's another discussion whether this is an appropriate attitude or rather the origin of the many tech problems and bothers that confront us daily. But one thing is clear: in this regard, Americans deal with resources more economically and invest only what's necessary in order to achieve a usable result.
Of course this works well only when, like in high-tech, product cycles are very short and speed and creativity are more important than perfection. In mature industries this approach doesn't work as well, as one can easily gather by observing the breakdown of the American automobile sector.
Perhaps this represents a chance for European (and Japanese) software makers: as the software industry matures, customers will require higher quality and precision – things at which other countries are better than Americans.
4. The right kind of immigrants. In over half of Silicon Valley's startups, a first-generation immigrant has been part of the founding team. Profiles like those of Andreas von Bechtolsheim (Sun), Sergey Brin (Google), Jerry Yang (Yahoo) or Pierre Omidyar (eBay) speak a clear language. The common denominator of most of these stories is that these entprepreneurs came to the US at a very young age, or as students. That's the advantage of an immigration country that attracts and lets people in who want to prove themselves. The European immigration policy instead is designed to let in only immigrants that have already established themselves and - that's the flaw - already have a job at a European company. Thus Europe doesn't attract entrepreneurs, but at best good corporate soldiers.
Nevertheless, Europe has now an opportunity, because for national security and political reasons the US are increasingly closing their borders. In the new EU countries many talented youngsters are waiting for their chance, and to them it should be given.
5. A more pragmatic role of the State. When European politicians want to promote entrepreneurship, they create large technology parks, in which startups were to settle. But tech-parks construction standards and prices are optimized more for big enterprises than for hungry startuppers. Sometimes European politicians even "mandate" innovation top-down, as with the grandly announced French-German Google killer "Quaero", which already is basically dead.
In the US one leaves all that to the private initiative. If a garage or an unused bedroom is often enough to get started, why should one build expensive technology parks? And the motivations of innovation descend from other sources than politically motivated programs.
However: Even the US government is not completely "hands off". The MIT for example receives a big part of its research funds from federal entities, often in the form of research mandates for military programs. Sometimes smart graduate students with a good idea take some of the resulting technology and found their own company, and that's an absolutely desired side-effect. The first preoccupation of the government seems to be not to throw obstacles in their way.
But here too, another chance for Europe: after the Enron collapse, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has tightened IPO rules to an extent that the interest for going public has dramatically decreased - and some US startups have listed on the European stock markets instead.
There are certainly many more points to be made, but some of those often mentioned -- such as the Americans' higher willingness to take risks, or the larger availability of venture capital -- are in my opinion just results of the factors discussed above. But clearly they can't be easily replicated.
Still, Europe actually has many advantages vs the US. I even believe that the current trends speak in favor of Europe: the US is becoming more closed, while Europe is opening up (although more slowly that one may wish). London will probably soon pass NY as the largest financial center of the world, while the American venture-capital sector currently seems to be somewhat confused about its own future. Creative companies and business ideas from Europe (like Skype, FON, Plazes, MySQL, Netvibes, Trolltech) inspire potential young entrepreneurs, because they are more original than most of the stuff currently coming out of Silicon Valley.
If the dynamics in Europe continue to develop this way and Europeans lose some of their reserve and start selling their ideas with some more self-confidence, then there's an interesting phase for tech-entrepreneurship ahead.
UPDATE 19 Feb 07 - A few interesting things left in the comments (thank you!) and definitely worth reading: Dimitar has a subjective (but very detailed) comparison of Germany and the US; Gabor asks why startups "don't condense in Europe"; Paul has worked out some macro-economics statistics about the European startup landscape.


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In the Garden:
Pacific Northwest
August, 2006
Regional Report
Poppies are so bright and bold, I love using them in my sunniest perennial beds.
Planning a Colorful Fall Garden
Now that summer is in full swing and I'm reaping the rewards of my early spring labors, it's tempting to rest on my laurels. But my garden is a constantly changing palette of color, and I've got to plan the next major event.
We've harvested new potatoes and baskets of summer squashes, and I've cut enough fresh flowers for dozens of indoor arrangements. The apples and grapes are swelling with pride, so it looks like we'll have a bumper crop this fall. Which reminds me -- autumn is just around the corner, and while I'm thoroughly enjoying the moment, it really is time to start planning and planting the next phase of the gardening season.
Masses of Appeal
In my garden, I try to give spring-, summer-, and fall-blooming plants each about one-third of the total space, which provides me with colorful beds from spring until our first hard frost. For maximum visual impact, I plant in drifts. A flowing mass of yarrow, for example, provides a wash of eye-catching yellow, while a single plant or two can look lost or weedy. I think scattered drifts can make a garden look spotty so I try to place three or four perennials that flower at the same time in neighboring drifts to create small garden vignettes and guide the eye to the next drift of color.
Favorite Autumn Flowers
I have several favorite fall-blooming perennials. Most are tried-and-true, but I also grow some weird but wonderful plants that have earned a place in my garden for the beauty of their late-season display. In my opinion, a fall garden is incomplete without anemones. These wonderful, 2- to 3-foot-tall plants seem to explode into bloom in the fall with single or double flowers in shades of rose, pink, salmon, or white. Held aloft on fragile-looking stems, the flowers and shiny buds add a certain gracefulness at this time of year. Anemones grow best in rich, organic soil in part afternoon shade. 'Honorine Jobert' is the best white anemone, and 'September Charm', with its silvery pink flowers, is a late-season knockout.
Fall-blooming asters are such popular perennials that new cultivars are constantly being introduced. It's easy to see why. Asters produce huge numbers of 2-inch-wide daisylike flowers in colors from pink to purple to white on plants that range in size from low-growing edging plants to towering beauties for the back of the border. Asters thrive in average garden soil in full sun.
I like the lower-growing asters best. They don't require pinching or staking the way most of the tall asters do. My all-time favorite is Aster novae-angliae 'Purple Dome'. It grows 18 inches tall and wide, with dramatic, deep violet-purple flowers. It makes a perfect companion to yarrow and dwarf fountain grass (Penniseum alopecuroides 'Hameln') for a beautiful late-fall picture.
Toad-lilies (Tricyrtis hirta) fall into the "interesting and unusual" category. Toad-lilies have arching, 2- to 3-foot stems and are just ordinary-looking, non-descript plants until, in September, rows of orchid-like white flowers open where the pointed leaves are attached to the stems. If you look closely, you'll see that the blooms are speckled with dark purple. Toad-lilies thrive in part shade and moist soil.
Colorful Foliage Fools the Eye
Fall-flowering perennials are just part of the secret to having attractive beds and borders. You can fool the eye into seeing a colorful garden even when little is in bloom if you include plants with colorful foliage. Among my favorites are heuchera 'Palace Purple', which has red-purple, maple-like leaves; variegated solomon's seal (Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum'), with leaves that turn a marvelous shade of gold with creamy white edges; silver-leaved plants, such as artemisia 'Powis Castle', and Bergenia cordifolia, with bronze-purple autumn foliage.
Shop and plant now if you want your perennial beds to look spectacular this fall. If you wait until the end of the summer when the beds look bedraggled, you'll probably end up dashing out to the nursery in a desperate search for color. Most nurseries stock very little variety at the end of the season, and you may find only main-stay chrysanthemums. How ordinary!
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IMO Knicks fans are TOO supportive of this organization. Knicks are the second most valuable team in the league and they've sucked for years. That's why Dolan is in no rush to banish this horrible coach. He's making money either way and he knows the fans will still pay the bills regardless. UGH.
I wish we had albino dude here on the Knicks...:afro:
Nash off to a great start.
Jordan Hill is essentially playing with the rest of his NBA career in the balance,
and is averaging less than 5pts on .460 shooting.
STAT's ****ing the female ref, that wasn't a charge
Coach looked pissed--and clueless.
GOOD....we were 2-7 in 3-ball shots in the 2nd quarter
We only had one player inside the three point line on that play - chandler and he got the offensive rebound--what does that tell you threetoni? Nothing I know...
Its somewhat entertaining to watch how bad these guys are. Bye bye dantoni.
Somebody left the gate off
I've counted us chucking up at least 13 shots with the shot clock down to less than 2 seconds. This is happening EVERY night they play. Why is this happening? Because the ball NEVER enters the paint and MDA keeps 4 guys out at the 3 pt line ALL game setting week screens which NEVER result in sh*t.
See ya tomorrow guys, this coach is too frustrating to watch. I'm done wasting my nights watching this garbage coach attempt to run a system I wouldn't run in a pick up game.


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" Genre: Action & Shooter / Suitable for 18 years and over / Release Date: 2009-09-18 / Published by Bethesda "
* Prices may differ from that shown
Id heard quite a lot about this game before i bought it, and they had done a good job of advertising it in magazines and on bus shelters, however my enthusiasm for this game ran out when i started to play it.
The opening cut scene wasn't actually too bad, the graphics looked a bit like an old western but in colour, it was more of a comic book feel, but it was quirky and different. After the first cut-scene, your character jumps though a glass roof, falls about 50 feet and isn't hurt one bit...which is a little bit unrealistic.
That however is not my biggest fault with the game, when you are aiming your weapons normally while running, its very hard to get an aim on your opponent, and a help menu comes up telling you to jump through the air and shoot, and EVERY time you jump in the air on this game, time slows down, and automatically aims at your nearest enemy. Now, for me this kind of defeats the element of a shoot 'em up game, all you do on this game, is run around, jumping in the air, pressing the fire button. Literally that's it.
The storyline is horrendous as well, I only played it for about 2 hours and i was bored for 1 and a half of them, its just an all round terrible game, i wouldn't recommend it, but hey, if you think you'll enjoy a horrible game with a rubbish storyline and game play, be my guest and go and buy it.
Action games which carry a lot of flair to them can sometimes be bogged down by a case of style over substance, when the game is too busy showboating to actually create a meaningful game experience. Shooters which get it right carefully balance style with gameplay to create something more meaningful. With WET, you take the role of a gun-for-hire who knows nothing but how to kill. Will style take over your enjoyment of this game, or will you have some great times with this smoking gun?
You play as Rubi Malone, a 'gun-for-hire' voiced by Eliza Dushku (Wrong Turn). At the beginning you are chasing a goon who made a deal go sour which was in favour of your client. After chasing him and, well, burning him to death, you deliver the package to your client, which turns out to be a heart to save a dying father. Fast forward a few years and this man has come to ask for your help, but things go sour from there. After that, this giant revenge quest, in all it's gruesome glory, kinda fades to the background, favouring gameplay over cutscenes.
You'll immediately notice how stylish WET is. It creates the atmosphere of a 70s grindhouse flick by using several techniques. The most obvious is a special film filter which makes the game look dirty and dark, much like 70s grindhouse. This can be turned off though, but the game looks worse for wear when this filter is removed. Turning it off highlights the slightly blocky character models and environments. Unfortunately, what aren't optional are the frequent interruptions from old film advtert clips, which try to create the feeling of the cinema intermission. It does just that, however what this means is that it feels like you're stopping and starting, which is jarring.
WET is also violent, and doesn't seem to hold back at all. Limbs are chopped off as easy as sausages, and even in important cutscenes violence is a key factor. It definately fits in with the 70s grindhouse vibe. WET also has a great soundtrack to fit with this vibe. The heavy Punk influences from these tracks are quite fitting and help pump adrenaline into the game, as do some of the more Mexican-influenced songs. It's all completely original too, which makes it seem like a more whole hearted effort amongst most soundtracks these days.
While WET nails a grindhouse atompshere, we are supposed to be 'playing' this rather than watching it, but thankfully WET isn't too bad of a game either. It's a first person shooter, but rather than going with a robotic 'Gears of War' style cover system and shooting mechanics, WET is like an adrenaline crazy version of older shooters, taking us to a time when there wasn't even cover systems. It's all very nostalgic and provides some old school fun and simplicity, with only four weapons to speak of.
These weapons are the pistol, sub-machine gun, shotgun and...Crossbow? Each weapon is good for different situations-shotguns for close range enemies, crossbows for crowds of enemies and pistols for lone wolves. However, the poor accuracy on the sub-machine and crossbows dampens their effectiveness, meaning you'll probably rely on the pistol and shotgun, especially seeing as the pistol has infinate ammo. Still, each respective weapon packs a punch, with deafening gunshots and brutal kills which are indefinately satisfying. You also have a sword, and if you get close enough, you can perform absolutely brutal kills with this.
WET also has a unique focus on Acrobatics. Not only must you scale walls and other obstacles to make progress, but it is a big part of combat. Outside of combat, some wall running and wall jumps will be needed to move further, as well as pole swinging and huge, death defying jumps. In combat, jumping or peforming an acrobatic move, then shooting, will cause time to slow down for a few seconds and an auto lock to kick in. The amount of stylish kills you can earn from using acrobatics is phenominal, and the amount of times you'll say 'woah' will be large.
Unfortunately, this blessing also happens to be WETs biggest curse. While it's incredibly fun to do this for the first couple of hours, it gets quite repetitive after the fifth or so level. After all, trying to get kills without using slow motion is nigh on impossible, thanks to awful aiming. Not only that, but to earn the most points for upgrading weapons and moves, you have to perform chains of kills in slow motion, meaning the game feels like a one tricky pony repeated across a dozen levels. The only break from this is when Ruby gets blood on her face, and goes into a rage mode, where kills are easier without doing the slow motion acrobatics, but there's only about four of them in the game.
There are also vehicle sections in the game, where you ride on top of cars while shooting any goons who are shooting you. Unfortunately, these levels highlight the poor aiming, and with no slow motion to help you out, these sections can be incredibly frustrating. There is also a level where you are skydiving through the sky, and must shoot goons before avoiding flying debris from a destroyed plane, but again, these highlight the poor aiming outside of the slow motion.
WET's 12 levels will probably take you around 7 hours to complete. After that, you can play the game on 'golden bullets' mode, where you take less damage to die, but enemies die with one shot. There is also a challenge mode which test your acrobatic and shooting skills, and a score mode where you must score the required amount of points on each level. There are four difficulties, and on the easiest, WET is almost a cakewalk, but on the hardest, it becomes quite a frustrating game due to the fact that unless you're in slow motion, you will likely take a lot of damage. If you're into WET's other modes, you could probably get a lot of hours out of it.
Is WET good, bad or ugly?
WET nails a stylish amotsphere with a grindhouse film filter, incredible violence and a blood pumping soundtrack. However it isn't quite as polished when it comes to the actual gameplay, which becomes repetitive way before the half way point. It's vicious focus on slow motion gameplay makes the game feel repetitive, and the sections which try to break up the action are worse for wear, thanks to a poor aiming system. If you can look past it's flaws, you'll find an okay action game which has a great sense of style, if not then it will numb your mind and leave you bored.
WET was released on September 18th, 2009 for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It is rated 18+ for strong bloody violence and can be bought for under £10 on most websites and game stores.
For some people the gaming landscape is one of only great games. These lucky few are usually gamers that dabble in the hobby picking up a 'Call of Duty' here, a 'Halo' there. In many ways I pity these people as they miss out on so many hidden classics - did they ever see their house from the heights of 'Crackdown', or fall in love in 'Half Life 2'? There are many great games out there that are popular, but not massively popular. However, perhaps these people are right in just playing the gems on the gaming landscape. For those of us who play games a lot you soon get through the cream, straight down the milk and get to the horrible remains of a soggy biscuit that you have to sieve through your teeth. I play lots of games and many of them are not good. Speaking of which, here is a review of 'Wet'
'Wet' is the title of one of the most displeasingly named games in a long time. Couple the dank title with the sexualised female lead and I was a little dubious about the game. Turns out that I need not have been worried about the name as 'Wet' refers to the term 'wet works', used by military personnel when they are undertaking a mission that will probably involve causalities. In this case the protagonist, Rubi, is a mercenary who is wronged early on and sets out to get revenge in the most violent way possible.
The game is a third person shooter that is near identical to the poorly received John Woo game 'Stranglehold'. You move through a series of areas dispatching countless goons with your guns or sword. The unique elements to the game (although they are taken directly from 'Stranglehold') is that Rubi slows down time when leaping or swinging. This gives you the chance to perform acrobatic moves on many enemies at once. For ten minutes or so the mechanic is reasonable fun as you leap from post to post. However, the same gameplay over and over again for 6 hours is not enough.
A more successful feature is the rage mode that Rubi goes into on occasion. This turns the colour scheme into red, white and black like in 'Sin City'. You bomb around at a fast pace slicing up enemies like there is no tomorrow. Although slightly more original than the core gameplay, this rage mode also gets tiresome relatively quickly. I did complete the game from start to finish, but I was never convinced Bethesda truly got to grips with the action. (2 out of 5)
This is the one area that Bethesda perhaps felt they had got things right by hiring a big name cast including Eliza Dushku, Alan Cumming and Malcolm McDowell. Unfortunately, these big names are forced into poor parts. The story is one of revenge and is very linear; more of an excuse to string set pieces together and swear. As the lead writer was from '24' the linearity seems even more surprising.
The game has a grindhouse feel that does work. Many of the cutscenes are interrupted by cinema adverts from US yesteryear and the game also has a crackly screen filter to make it feel aged. With some great ideas in creating atmosphere it is a real shame that Bethesda is unable to use this in any way that is not juvenile or insipid. (2 out of 5)
Modern games are never that long and in cases like 'Wet' this is no bad thing as the gameplay only entertains for the first half anyway. As an experience the game is about moderate length clocking in about 6-8 hours for someone playing it quickly. As always there are some achievements for those people looking to extend lifespan, but as the 'collect X number of this' types of achievements I could not be bothered myself. (3 out of 5)
There is no online mode in 'Wet' and this is increasingly uncommon in modern gaming. However, 'Stranglehold' proved to me that having numerous people all slowing down time doesn't work online. (NA out of 5)
In 2009 High definition gaming has come a long way and whilst dodgy character models and flat textures were just acceptable near launch, by now they seem plain lazy. The best graphical elements of the game are nothing to do with the gameplay, but the atmosphere of grindhouse - be it a scratchy look or levels finishing like a camera unspooling. The actual game itself is just functional with bold colouring. However, there is plenty of screen tearing on offer and more than a few glitches. In many ways the game feels like it could have done with six more months work to boost the appearance. (2 out of 5)
Level Design
On the initial level 'Wet' looked like a solidly enough built game. Each level is themed with a location e.g. China Town or London, and Rubi must navigate a linear section to a more open area. These open areas act like arenas where Rubi has to destroy various targets to stop more enemies from spawning. As the game progresses the arenas have more spawn points and harder enemies. By level 3 you realise that the same thing is happening over and over again and that the different environments actually look he same! I didn't know that London and Shanghai were almost identical. A lot more could have been done to spice up the game and about halfway through Bethesda try this by adding far more platforming elements. In a game with poor controls this is a bad thing. (2 out of 5)
The grindhouse feel of 'Wet' is probably best exemplified through its sound and music. The 70s Wawa guitar sound track and chunky bass means that you do feel like you are listening to a period soundtrack. The sound effects also play into this with some great pops and squeaks that represent the 'poor' quality of the sound. In terms of voice talent Bethesda have proven once more that big names do not always make for great voice acting. Alan Cumming is probably the best actor in the game, but he has little to do; the likes of Eliza Dushku and Malcolm McDowell sound bland and record their work as if they are there for the paycheque only. (3 out of 5)
With its overly sexualised female protagonist and ultra violence 'Wet' is a game aimed squarely at the hardcore and the juvenile. I will be the first to admit that in terms of game players that is a pretty big group! However, these hardcore gamers also expect quality. Developers Bethesda have come up with a good idea of making a grindhouse game, but executed almost every facet in a poor manner. The actually look and feel works, but the game itself sucks. With repetitive gameplay, bland levels and ropey controls the game is not that much fun. If they spent as much time improving the core game as they did the sound quality they may have made something worth playing. (2 out of 5)
Maker: Bethesda RRP £50
Amazon uk £11.99
Play.com £17.99
Wet : a kill Bill styley 3rd Person shooter which integrates guns, swords and some funky, over the top gymnastic moves. Playing as the ballsy Rubi Malone you go off on a 'mission' running into lots of bad guys who just want to kick your ass!
overall this game is quite nice. The style of the game is a lot like the film Kill Bill (if you have seen this film you will understand as soon as you play this) all gritty and all quite grungy looking. the controls are simple enough and once you get the hang of Rubi sliding about on her knees like a mad woman it's fine.
One of the things that lets this game down is the length of game play. Playing it on the hardest difficulty it can be completed in one sitting by a dedicated gamer. Never the less, the short game play is still enjoyable non the less.
Id recommend this game if you just want a casual game to sit down and play in stead of something like Call of Duty which can frustrate the hell out of you
Imagine if Quentin Tarantino and John Woo made a game. Wet is, more or less, that game. It's a highly stylised shooter full of completely gratuitous acrobatics, gunfights and good old fashioned violence. It's kind of a mixture of Stranglehold and The Club in that as you're swinging from poles or spinning through the air, time slows down so that you can more easily target and annihilate the opposition one by one. For each successive enemy you kill, and the more variety you include in the kills (headshots, sword slashes, wallruns, floor slides), the more points you get and consequently the more stuff you can get as the game goes on. Every now and then, Rubi, your character, will enter a cel-shaded are where the objective is simply to kill as many enemies as possible before you're overwhelmed, and fleeing to the exit. It's a nice touch, and looks great, but isn't really that different from the rest of the game, apart from the look. I suppose really that's the game's main fault; that there's just not enough variety. Sure you can kill a few different enemies while jumping, sliding or running along a wall, but that's really all there is to it, and although it doesn't quite manage to get old, if the game were much longer, it certainly might.
In a nutshell, this is not a game that will have you scratching your head at any point. It's just a good old fashioned shooter with a Tarantino-esque revenge plot loosely attached. But, it knows what it is, and it does it well. I'd recommend it to anyone looking to put their brain to one side for a few hours to engage in some good old-fashioned violence.
Wet is an action packed third person shooter through the eyes of a female samurai wielding badass, named Rubi. Its grind house cinema graphics set it distinctively apart from other shooters of this genre.
It has more gun toting slow motion gun play since the matrix and bullet-time is back! The lead character Rubi is the kind of gal who really doesn't care if she creates some dead bodies as long as there is fat cheque to collect at the end of a mission.
Missions include finding brief cases, executions and revenge.
Wet is a straight forward action game split up into twelve chapters which will take around 6-8 hours to complete. After which challenge mode will unlock, where you will play in isolated maps from the single player campaign to obtain the highest score possible. Points are given by killing enemies and jumping through rings of fire in slow motion all of which encourages you to play the game in the most stylish manner possible.
The truth is everything enjoyable in Wet can be experience in ONE play through.
Her physics bending aerobatic moves and fiery weaponry are all designed to make the game look cool.
Unfortunately it isn't that satisfying because new combat moves that are unlocked either feel useless or should have been available from the start.
The control system works well, if while jumping or sliding by pulling the right trigger will initiate slow motion. One of your guns then auto-locks onto the closest enemy and the secondary can be aimed by you. You will typically spend the entire game sliding from room to room blasting large number of enemies until they've all been dispatched.
So not surprisingly although the slow motion moves are fun the game becomes a repetitive slog of emptying rooms of enemies. Their are some changes of pace including Gatling guns, a car chase scenario and Rubi blood rage. Rubis' rage turns the screen red and she turns into a killing machine, but still in this mode there are no new moves.
Overall Wet contains some great ideas but it just doesn't apply them properly and so can't be described as a good game. If you don't take it too seriously I guess you won't mind it being rough around the edges.
A bit like the old 'Doom' PC game.
A distinctly Average game.
I spotted Wet pretty late on in its preview/review cycle for the magazines, one of those titles that snuck up on me. However as soon as I read the reviews I was interested to say the least, so off I went and picked it up within the first week of release. And at the time of writing this review, I've finished the story mode.
So its a short game, made up of 12 chapters with some Quick Time Event driven cut scenes between some of them to build up the story. To be honest I finshed the game on "Cake Walk" (the games easy mode) and I haven't found all the hidden collectables, thats the next challenge, up the difficulty and find find everything.
The story is a simple one at first glance, but has a few spins and twists to keep you hooked, you play as Rubi Malone, a top notch hired gun who'll do anything (within reason) for the right price. After being double crossed she takes revenge on the person who set her up and off you go to find the poor sod. Of course by the time this revelation comes out into the open your about half way through the game. Most of this story is built up through cut scenes, with the odd key fight done in a cinematic styled QTE driven sequence (the most dissapointing of which in my opinion is the very end of the game, which could have made a great challenge boss fight, turned into a few button presses). This style of game play is both good and bad. Its good because the QTE isn't just thrown in once in the game to say they're in there, they're used frequently enough to feel justified. On the flip side they do prevent some potentially great boss fights from happening. Its almost as though the games designers didn't trust the player with these fights and so took control of the tactics, camera and action away from the player to make sure the fight was paced just how they wrote it.
Which is strange because the rest of the game flows around its action so well. Rubi feels like the lead character from Mirrors Edge in terms of athletic capability but with the shooting skills of Max Payne, particularly with the focus on slow-mo kills. Anytime Rubi is jumping sliding spinning or running on the wall and shooting the game slows down and Rubi (where applicable) uses both guns. One is aimed manually using the analogue stick, the other locks on automatically to the nearest enemy/target. Its a well built system that really allows you to join up long kill combos mixed in with jumping and sliding almost like you were in the Matrix.
The choice of weapons is small but varied, Rubis pistols never run out of ammo and the three other guns are well balanced. Small cannons, shotguns and SMGs all feature and Rubis permenant alternative weapon is her sword which is effective against almost any enemy. All of these are upgradable using "Style Points", gained from stylish kills in the game. Repeating moves lowers the points gained for kills so it pays to be imaginative.
The controls allow you to put Rubi into almost any position for a kill and rarely get mixed up. The face buttons handle the sword, QTEs, and generally interacting with the environment, the camera is smooth and again rarely gets in the way, and the triggers cover the guns and wall running. Its all simple and feels quite natural.
Special stages are introduced called "Rage mode", wher Rubi goes on an uncontrollable killing spree. These are marked by a stark change in graphics from gritty grindhouse style realism to bold reds black and white (white being blood). The aim of these sections is to gain the highest kill combo possible and generally to kill anything that moves. My personal record is 77 so far for one section.
The soundtrack is great, lots of fast heavy rock. I'd like to go out and find some of these bands albums personally, and the music matches the games pace and feel.
Finally the modes available, on first play through only story mode is available, but after a quick blast through the challenges become available, these allow you to replay any level and try and beat your last performance in terms of time and points.
This is a great fun game with plenty to keep you playing, the fast music, crisp visuals and huge set pieces (falling through the debris of an exploded plane towards Earth anyone?) are truely cinematic. However the slight cliche of the storyline and the QTEs removing the chance of some potentially epic boss fights is a bit disappointing.